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I 

.. 

OUR  DEVOTIONAL 
EXAMPLE 


ZUCK 


»««i$mW*i«t«»m«»JW*»tt«»V.tm*'^;4r;?11^^^ 


£ibrar;p  of  Che  trheolo^icd  ^tmin<xry 

PRINCETON  •  NEW  JERSEY 


•S^D* 


PRESENTED  BY 

Rufus  H.   LeFevre 


Cljrtgt  €>ur 
2>e\)otional  example 


Clje  2Det)ottonal  ^tvits 

The  Christian's  Power      .      .      .      F.  P.  Rosseloi 

Bible  Study  and  Devotion      .      H.  A.  Thompson 

Prayer,  a  Means  of  Spiritual  Growth  .     . 

N.  E.  Cornetet 

Selections    from    Devotional    Writings    of 

Madame  Guyon     .      .      .     .     D.  D.  Loivery 

Love  As  a  Motive M.  B.  Spayd 

Sorrow;  Its  Worth,  Its  Cure     .     J.  A.  Haivkini 

Bible  Doctrine  of  Devotion       .      E.  S.  Bonuman 

Christ  Our  Devotional  Example      .      W.  J.  Zuck 

The  Holy  Spirit  in  the  Devout  Life     .     . 

I.  L.  Ktphart 

Conduct;   Its   Relation  to  the   Devotional 

Life J.  T.  Spangler 

Each  l6mo,  Cloth Fifty  Cents 

anntttd  Steti)ten  publi^liins  '^oMt 

Vf.  R.  Funk,  jtt*nt  DAYTON.  OHIO 


Cljrtst  #ur 
Bebottonal  example 


BY 

WILLIAM  JOHNSTON  ZUCK,  A.M.,  D.D. 


I 


UNITED    BRETHREN    PUBLISHING    HOUSE 

W.  R.  Funk,  Agtnt  DAYTON,  OHIO 


So  ^p  Wiitt 


3fel 


jFoteUiotD 


The  devotional  life  is  defined  in 
Scripture  phrase  as  one  in  which  the 
mind  is  set  "on  the  things  that  are 
above,  not  on  the  things  that  are  upon 
the  earth.''  It  is  a  "life  hid  with  Christ 
in  God.''  We  are  in  the  world,  but  we 
are  not  to  be  of  the  world. 

Many  Christians  have  found  to  their 
great  delight  that  this  high  ideal  is  pos- 
sible and  worthy  of  attainment.  Our 
religion  is  not  a  creed,  not  a  mere  pro- 
fession, not  a  garment  that  may  be 
taken  off  and  put  on  at  pleasure.  It  is 
a  life;  life  implies  development;  and 
the  higher  the  form  of  life,  the  greater 
is  the  need  of  care  and  cultivation.  We 
shall  never  know  the  best  of  our  relig- 
ious experience  until  we  have  learned 
to  grow  each  day  in  sweet  and  tender 
fellowship  with  Jesus  Christ. 

We  are  sometimes  told  that  the 
Christian  life  does  not  always  appear 
to  be  a  happy  one.     The  reason  is 

7 


ifotttootd 


mainly  this :  We  give  so  little  time  to 
"the  things  that  are  above."  The 
measure  of  our  joy  and  power  is  the 
constancy  and  intensity  of  our  devo- 
tion. We  must  make  real  to  ourselves 
the  truth  that  it  is  "in  Him  we  live, 
and  move,  and  have  our  being," 

The  following  pages  are  studies  in 
the  devotional  life  of  Christ.  They  are 
by  no  means  exhaustive.  Much  more 
could  have  been  written  upon  each,  and 
upon  other  phases  of  that  matchless 
life  of  service  and  devotion.  May  every 
reader  of  this  little  book  consciously 
find  growing  within  him  the  desire  to 
be  more  like  Him  who  said,  "I  am  the 
way,  and  the  truth,  and  the  life." 


Contentjaf 


Content0 


Foreword 
I   The  Words  of  God 
II    TiLii  Aiiij  Bk  Fulfilled 

III  The  Secret  Place 

IV  With  Nature 
V    It  Is  Written 

VI    Teach  Us  to  Pray 
VII    In  the  Public  Place 
VIII    The  Religion  of  Obscurity 
IX    Be  Not  Anxious 
X    My  Father's  Business 
XI    Many  Mansions 


KnttoDuctorg 


Man  shall  not  live  hy  hread  alone, 
hut  hy  every  word  that  proceedeth  out 
of  the  mouth  of  God. 


Where  shall  we  find  a  perfect  life  whereby 
To  shape  our  lives  for  all  eternity? 

This  man  is  great  and  wise ;  the  world  reveres  him ; 

Reveres,  but  cannot  love  his  heart  of  stone ; 
And  so  it  dares  not  follow,  though  it  fears  him, 

But  bids  him  walk  his  mountain  path  alone. 

That  man  is  good  and  gentle ;  all  men  love  him, 
Yet  dare  not  ask  his  feeble  arm  for  aid ; 

The  world's  best  work  is  ever  far  above  him ; 
He  shrinks  beneath  the  storm-capped  mountain's 
shade. 

O  loveless  strength!  O  strengthless  love!  the 
Master, 

Whose  life  shall  shape  our  lives,  is  not  as  thou ; 
Sweet  Friend  in  peace,  strong  Savior  in  disaster. 

Our  heart  of  hearts  infolds  Thine  image  now ! 

Be  Christ's  the  fair  and  perfect  life,  whereby 
We  shape  our  lives  for  all  eternity. 

— Charles  F.  Richardson. 


^^t  Moth0  ot  (BoH 


Cl)e  WiotW  of  (S^oD 

Jesus  taught  that  we  have  souls  to 
be  fed,  as  well  as  bodies.  Our  life  does 
not  depend  on  bread  alone,  but  on  the 
sovereign  will  and  good  pleasure  of 
God.  At  the  very  threshold  of  His 
career,  Jesus  acknowledged  that  trust 
in  God's  words  is  the  source  of  life  and 
power.  To  repel  doubt  and  conquer 
the  enemy.  He  relied  upon  God's  words, 
and  so  must  we. 

If  we  wish  to  understand  and  appre- 
ciate the  devotional  element  in  the  life 
of  Jesus,  the  best  and  purest  man  that 
ever  lived,  it  will  be  necessary  to  study 
briefly  the  history  of  His  people,  their 
religious  instincts  and  spirits,  as  vrell 
as  the  conditions  of  His  own  time  and 
nature.  This  will  naturally  lead  us 
into  the  pages  of  the  Old  Testament, 
Christ's    one    text-book    of    devotion. 

13 


C5ti0t  SDut  i3DebottonaI  (Ejeample 

With  it  He  was  thoroughly  familiar 
and  in  perfect  sympath}^,  and  it  prob- 
ably did  more  than  we  can  ever  tell 
to  mold  His  thought  and  shape  His 
plans. 

Any  history  of  the  Hebrew  people, 
or  of  any  great  man  of  that  people, 
must  lay  much  emphasis  on  the  ele- 
ment of  devotion.  The  quiet,  medita- 
tive religious  life  finds  its  highest  type 
and  product  in  the  race  chosen  by  God 
from  all  the  nations  to  be  His  own 
choice  possession.  Other  elements  they 
had  in  common  with  the  most  culti- 
vated and  aggressive  races  in  ancient 
times,  but  the  religious  element  was 
their  distinctive  inheritance  and  crown 
of  glory.  It  is,  perhaps,  true  that  these 
people  were,  in  many  instances,  more 
religious  than  moral,  as  judged  by  mod- 
ern standards;  but  we  must  remember 
that  their  ideas  and  conduct  were  the 
product  not  so  much  of  training  and 
education  as  of  impulse.  Their  liter- 
ature is  distinguished  from  all  others 
by  its  religious  fervor  and  enthusiasm. 

14 


^Se  ^ortJ0  ot  (Boo 


In  the  patriarchal  age,  religious  life 
was  characterized  by  depth  and  sim- 
plicity. Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob 
were  children  in  their  knowledge  and 
practice  of  ethics ;  but  in  their  sense  of 
God  and  His  presence  with  them,  in 
His  concern  in  all  the  affairs  of  their 
lives,  molding  and  determining  them, 
these  men  were  profound,  and  put  us 
moderns  to  shame.  He  walked  with 
them,  spoke  to  them,  and  at  all  times 
was  their  abiding  Friend.  The  strength 
and  depth  of  their  character  grew  out 
of  the  fact  that  their  lives  were  rooted 
in  God,  and  by  meditation  and  face- 
to-face  converse  with  Him,  their  deep- 
est yearnings  and  longings  were  fully 
satisfied. 

We  have  moved  far  away  from  the 
simple  trust  and  familiarity  of  the 
patriarchs.  To-day  we  talk  about  God 
as  "law"  and  "principle"  and  "idea" 
and  "doctrine,"  and  very  little  of  Him 
as  Friend  and  Counsellor.  If  we  know 
more  of  systems  of  ethics  and  morals, 
we  know  less  of  religion  in  this  deepest 

15 


C(ti0t  SDnt  SDebotional  (Csample 

sense  of  His  abiding  presence  in  all  the 
shifting  scenes  of  life.  To  see  and 
know  God  as  a  personal  Friend  is  far 
more  than  to  know  Him  as  First  Cause 
or  Ultimate  Reason. 

This  close  and  familiar  intercourse 
with  God  was  followed  by  a  period 
quite  different  in  its  devotional  ele- 
ments. The  simplicity  and  directness 
of  the  patriarchal  age  gave  way  to  the 
complex  and  regal  splendor  of  national 
organization.  The  altar  was  now 
merged  in  the  tabernacle,  and  later 
still  the  latter  in  the  temple.  God^s 
presence  was  now  manifested  in  thun- 
dering Sinai,  in  fiery  and  cloudy  pillar, 
in  bleeding  victim,  in  burning  incense. 
For  many  long  years  the  process  of 
religious  training  went  on,  sometimes 
slowly  and  sometimes  rapidly,  but 
never  entirely  lost  from  the  conscious- 
ness of  the  individual  or  of  the  nation. 
Purity  of  heart  and  a  clean  life  are 
the  deepest  lessons  of  Leviticus,  and 
must  have  been  the  longing  of  earnest 
devotion.     It  v/ould  be  impossible  not 

16 


%tt  I121lorti0  ot  (Eo( 


to  see  the  spiritual  significance  of  tab- 
ernacle and  temple,  with  their  elab- 
orate service,  and  not  be  touched  with 
these  object-lessons  in  which  so  much 
was  revealed  of  the  character  of  God 
and  the  destiny  of  man. 

But  the  religious  life  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament is  richest  in  the  Psalms,  and  the 
so-called  Wisdom  Books, — Job,  Prov- 
erbs, and  Ecclesiastes.  All  of  these 
are  in  poetic  form,  and  to  be  appreci- 
ated must  be  read  as  poetry.  Some 
attention,  too,  must  be  given  to  the 
literary  structure,  for  the  most  deeply 
spiritual  trains  of  thought  are  often 
reflected  in  parallelism  of  clauses,  or 
in  the  literary  effects  of  climax  or  sur- 
prise. Students  of  literature  know 
that  poetry  is  the  language  of  the  emo- 
tions, and  because  religion  lays  hold  of 
the  deepest  emotions  of  the  human 
soul,  and  is  made  to  vibrate  under  its 
impulses  as  the  pendulum  swings  to 
and  fro,  it  is  not  difficult  to  understand 
why  the  truest  and  deepest  devotion 
expresses  itself  in  song.    The  poetry  of 

2  17 


the  Bible  in  this  respect  far  surpasses 
the  noblest  products  of  the  most  culti- 
vated Indo-Germanic  races,  the  Greek, 
the  Roman,  and  the  Hindu.  No  one 
will  dispute  the  statement,  "No  poetry 
has  such  power  over  the  souls  of  men 
as  Hebrew  poetry."  The  subjective  ele- 
ment, the  vibrating  chords  of  the  poet^s 
own  emotions,  the  varied  phases  of  his 
own  experience,  are  all  given  in  such 
fullness  of  utterance  in  the  Psalter, 
Proverbs,  and  Book  of  Job,  that  these 
books  will  constitute  the  world's 
library  of  devotion  for  all  time.  They 
are  world-wide  in  their  sway,  and  ever- 
lasting in  their  sweep. 

These  lyric  poems  express  every 
phase  of  religious  feeling.  They 
abound  in  adoration  and  praise,  hu- 
miliation and  confession.  The  poet 
sings  of  joy  and  sorrow,  faith  and  hope, 
love  and  hate ;  the  conflicts  of  life,  with 
its  agony  and  despair,  and  not  less, 
indeed,  its  ecstasy  and  exaltation,  are 
given  as  the  common  experience  of 
humanity.    The  Book  of  Proverbs  gives 

18 


%it  motti$i  ot  (Soti 


expression  to  the  thought,  which  is 
itself  a  result  of  meditation  and  reflec- 
tion on  the  great  problem  of  life,  that 
righteousness  and  prosperity  in  this 
life  go  hand-in-hand;  the  good  man  is 
favored  by  God,  and  the  wicked  man 
suffers.  The  Book  of  Job  presents  an 
apparent  exception  in  the  story  of  a 
man  who  has  always  been  good  and 
upright,  so  acknowledged  in  the  coun- 
cils of  heaven,  and  yet  is  made  to  suffer 
on  an  ash-heap  the  pangs  of  physical 
pain  and  the  scorn  of  friends.  The 
problem  of  suffering  receives  ample 
treatment  and  solution,  but  of  deeper 
interest  is  the  crisis  of  the  soul  in  its 
longing  after  God,  and  its  final  and 
complete  rest  in  Him.  Ecclesiastes  is 
another  apparent  exception  to  the 
truth  of  Proverbs, — a  man  prosperous 
in  all  that  the  world  calls  success^  and 
happiness,  but  what  the  wise  man  pro- 
nounces "vanity  of  vanities." 

Another  phase  of  the  devotional  ele- 
ment in  the  Old  Testament  is  seen  in 
the   life   and   work   of   the   prophets. 

19 


These  men  were  seers,  religious  ideal- 
ists, and  whether  they  spoke  to  the 
individual  or  to  the  nation,  it  was 
always  with  a  "thus  saith  the  Lord." 
The  prophets  were  the  teachers  and 
preachers  of  their  times,  and  they  dis- 
tinctly claim  that  it  is  the  word  of  God 
which  they  speak.  There  were  many 
ways  in  which  He  spoke  to  them  and 
revealed  His  will.  In  the  purest  stage 
of  prophecy,  the  best  idea  of  the  proph- 
ets' relation  to  God  is  seen  in  their 
earnest  devotion  and  rapt  spiritual 
communion  with  Him.  They  inter- 
ceded with  God,  and  many  times  the 
communication  of  a  revelation  to  them 
is  called  an  "answer," — the  same  ex- 
pression that  is  used  in  regard  to 
prayer.  Their  fellowship  with  Him 
was  intimate;  His  Spirit  was  upon 
them,  giving  them  discernment,  coun- 
sel, and  authority.  They  were  power- 
ful, because  personal  piety,  such  as 
belonged  to  them,  was  a  great  creative 
force;  the  sense  of  their  near  relation 
to  God  made  them  strong  and  influ- 

20 


Tlfit  mxotr^^  ot  (Bod 


ential  in  matters  political  as  well  as 
religious. 

The  devotional  spirit  has  thus  found 
its  outward  expression  in  these  many 
ways,  marked,  of  course,  by  differences 
depending  on  the  great  religious  move- 
ments of  the  age,  and  yet  alike  in  all 
essential  respects,  because  man's  need 
of  God  has  never  changed.  The  world 
has  been  longing  for  God,  and  God  has 
been  pleased  to  reveal  Himself  in  many 
ways.  He  has  always  spoken  to  man, 
and  there  have  always  been  many 
devout  hearts  to  hear  His  words.  Gra- 
ciously have  they  fallen  upon  our  ears 
and  comforted  our  hearts.  But  the 
best  word,  the  most  glorious  message 
He  has  ever  sent  to  this  poor  world,  is 
that  expressed  in  Jesus  Christ.  To 
Him  we  are  to  look  for  the  truest  ex- 
ample of  the  devotional  life,  and  in 
Him,  as  we  shall  study  His  life  and 
words,  we  shall  hope  to  find  our  high- 
est and  purest  ideal  of  the  religious 
spirit. 


21 


I  am  not  come  to  destroy,  "but  to  fulfilL 


Children  of  yesterday, 

Heirs   of   to-morrow, 
What  are  you  weaving. 

Labor  and  sorrow? 
Look  to  your  looms  again! 

Faster   and    faster 
Fly  the  great  shuttles 

Prepared   by   the  Master; 
Life's   in  the  loom; 
Room  for  it — ^room. 

— Unknown, 


tEill  mi  U  JfuIfilUtt 


II 
Ctll  ail  be  JFuUilleD 

It  is  easy  to  exaggerate  the  differ- 
ence between  the  Old  Testament  and 
the  New.  Indeed,  it  would  be  better 
not  to  speak  of  their  difference,  except 
that  which  is  always  implied  in  any 
process  of  evolution.  Jesus  puts  them 
in  their  proper  relation,  and  gives  to 
each  its  proper  setting.  He  accepted 
the  Old  without  any  reservation :  "Ver- 
ily I  say  unto  you,  Till  heaven  and 
earth  pass,  one  jot  or  one  tittle  shall 
in  no  wise  pass  from  the  law,  till  all  be 
fulfilled."  The  difference,  therefore,  is 
not  the  result  of  a  revolutionary  move- 
ment. The  Old  was  to  pass  away,  not 
by  destruction,  but  by  fulfillment;  the 
bud  is  fulfilled  in  the  rose. 

It  was  true  with  Christ,  as  it  is  true 
with  us,  that  He  was  the  product  of  the 
past.    The  far-off  gaze  of  patriarch  and 

25 


€W^t  SDnt  SDebotional  (Csample 

prophet  was  the  earnest  of  satisfied 
longings  and  fulfilled  desires  that 
already  linked  their  present  with  the 
future.  "Your  father  Abraham  re- 
joiced to  see  mj  day :  and  he  saw  it,  and 
was  glad'';  and  good  old  Simeon  felt 
the  same  thrill  of  gladness,  when  he 
said,  "Lord,  now  lettest  thou  thy 
servant  depart  in  peace,  according  to 
thy  word :  for  mine  eyes  have  seen  thy 
salvation."  What  a  disappointment  it 
would  have  been,  had  Jesus  announced 
at  the  inauguration  of  His  kingdom  an 
entirely  new  constitution  and  program. 
But  that  is  never  the  divine  principle 
of  action.  God  has  always  recognized 
some  good  in  the  existing  order  of 
things,  and  His  method  has  been  that 
of  education  or  evolution.  In  this 
sense,  Jesus  was  the  fulfillment  of  the 
past. 

Christ  did  not,  then,  break  faith  with 
the  past,  simply  because  it  was  the  past. 
He  had  not  only  respect  for  it,  but  even 
veneration,  and  insists  that  His  follow- 
ers shall  have  the  same.    For  those  who 

26 


'Eill  m  fie  mtilltn 


kept  insisting  that  righteousness  must 
conform  even  to  the  minutest  details  of 
law,  including  its  traditions,  He  had 
words  of  censure.  He  would  have  "the 
whole  body  full  of  light,"  not  simply 
"the  tips  of  the  fingers."  It  was  said, 
indeed,  that  He  was  setting  aside  the 
old  customs  and  beliefs,  and  was  thus 
destroying  their  force;  but  in  reality 
He  accepted  the  old  covenant  more 
cordially  and  thoroughly  than  did  those 
whom  He  censured.  The  kingdom  of 
God  as  introduced  by  Christ  was  built 
upon  foundations  that  had  long  been 
laid. 

Humanly  speaking,  Jesus  could  not 
have  done  without  the  long  and  event- 
ful history  of  His  people.  That  history, 
with  its  varying  scenes  of  spiritual 
advance  and  decline,  its  great  prob- 
lems and  its  great  men,  was  not  only 
familiar  to  Him,  but  was  a  part  of  Him. 
He  lived  upon  its  prophecies,  was 
inspired  by  its  hopes,  and  used  to 
the  fullest  extent  its  materials.  It 
prompted  much  of  His  thinking,  ap- 

27 


€W^t  SDnt  S>tbotional  C^^ample 

pealed  to  His  imagination,  and  dom- 
inated His  meditations.  With  the  trials 
and  temptations  that  came  to  Him  as 
"He  went  on  His  way/'  the  Old  Testa- 
ment furnished  the  discipline  that 
made  Him  perfect.  He  could  not  and 
did  not  break  with  the  old. 

More,  indeed,  than  we  think,  does  the 
past  have  to  do  with  our  spiritual  long- 
ings. No  man  can  escape  it,  and  he 
should  have  no  desire  to  do  so.  It  may 
be  a  help  or  a  hindrance,  as  one  pleases 
to  make  it.  What  we  are,  we  owe 
to  it  and  to  those  who  have  lived  and 
wrought  so  well.  The  man  who  thinks 
little  of  the  past,  and  who  fails  to 
appreciate  its  worth  to  him,  is  little 
more  than  a  savage.  Our  lives  are 
enriched  by  the  labor  and  sacrifice,  by 
the  hopes  and  fears,  by  the  joys  and 
sorrows  of  the  men  and  women  who 
have  lived  and  died.  "They  rest  from 
their  labors,  but  their  works  do  follow 
them." 

Much  of  our  peace  and  happiness 
will  depend  on  right  adjustments  with 

28 


%m  mi  bt  mtiiitn 


the  past  and  present.  One  of  the  most 
beautiful  things  in  life  is  to  grow  old 
and  keep  sweet, — sweet  with  the  ever- 
changing  world,  sweet  with  the  new 
and  untried  notions  of  many,  many 
minds.  How  hard  it  is  for  some  to  be 
reconciled  to  the  new  order  of  things! 
The  good  old  days  seem  to  many  to  be 
passing  away,  and  with  them,  to  some 
at  least,  the  most  blessed  experiences 
of  life.  But  why  should  we  thus  rob 
ourselves  of  the  joy  of  fulfilled  desires? 
God  does  not  wish  our  present  to  be 
marred  by  gloomy  and  distrustful  views 
of  the  past.  He  would  rather  have  us 
remember  that 

"through  the  ages  one  increasing  pur- 
pose runs. 

And  the  thoughts  of  men  are  widened  with  the 
process  of  the  suns." 

Jesus  came  not  to  destroy,  but  to 
fulfill,  and  we  must  take  Him  at  His 
word.  His  life  and  work  were  thus  a 
part  of  a  whole,  one  feature  of  a  great 
plan,  reaching  backward  as  well  as 
forward.      And    God's    plan    for    this 

29 


€W^t  SDut  SDetiotional  C^xampU 

world  includes  your  life  and  mine. 
There  is  some  place  in  which  He  wishes 
us  to  work,  some  task  for  the  doing  of 
which  we  shall  be  held  responsible. 
We  are  appointed,  it  may  be,  to  com- 
plete another's  work,  to  fulfill  the 
earlier  prophecy  of  some  one  unknown 
to  any  but  God  Himself.  But,  like 
Christ,  our  work  in  the  world,  in  its 
relation  to  the  past,  will  be  rather  con- 
structive than  destructive.  Is  it  too 
much  to  say  that,  in  the  quiet  hours  of 
His  meditation,  the  great  problems  of 
His  life,  as  it  looked  toward  the  past 
and  the  future,  pressed  in  upon  Him? 
Was  His  attitude  toward  the  future 
more  perplexing  than  that  towards  the 
past?  Certainly  not,  if  we  may  judge 
from  the  importance  he  attached  to 
the  laying  of  foundations.  He  was 
the  Master-Builder,  because  the  super- 
structure must  have  no  foundations  of 
hay  and  stubble;  and  the  foundation 
upon  which  He  built  was  the  eternal 
purpose  of  God  as  revealed  in  the  suc- 
cession of  the  ages. 

30 


'Jtill  m  be  iultilleti 


There  is  precious  comfort  in  the 
thought  that  after  while  all  shall  be 
fulfilled.  ^Tor  now  we  see  in  a  mirror, 
darkly;  but  then  face  to  face:  now  I 
know  in  part;  but  then  shall  I  know 
fully,  even  as  also  I  was  fully  known." 
The  time  is  coming  when  there  will  be 
no  past,  no  present,  no  future,  to  en- 
gage our  thought  and  serious  concern ; 
in  the  presence  of  Him  who  is  "the 
same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  forever," 
and  with  whom  "one  day  is  as  a  thou- 
sand years,  and  a  thousand  years  as 
one  day,"  we  shall  be  beyond  the  reach 
of  change,  and  in  possession  of  com- 
plete and  perfect  knowledge.  Let  us 
patiently  await  His  time  who  said, 
"Till  all  be  fulfilled." 


31 


Enter  into  thine  inner  chamhery  and  having  shut 
thy  door,  pray. 


Have  you  and  I  to-day 
Stood  silent  as  with  Christ,  apart  from  joy,  or  fray 
Of  life,  to  see  His  face; 
To  look,  if  but  a  moment,  in  its  grace, 
And  grow,  by  brief  companionship,  more  true 
More  nerved  to  lead,  to  dare,  to  do 
For  Him  at  any  cost?     Have  we  to-day 
Found  time,  in  thought,  our  hand  to  lay 
In   His,  and   thus  compare 
His  will  with  ours,  and  wear 
The  impress  of  His  wish?     Be  sure 
Such  contact  will  endure 
Throughout  the  day;  will  help  us  walk  erect 
Through  storm  and  flood ;   detect 
Within  the  hidden  life  sin's  dross,  its  stain; 
Revive  a  thought  of  love  for  Him  again ; 
Steady  the  steps  which  waver ;  help  us  see 
The  footpath  meant  for  you,  and  me. 

— Unknown. 


%it  &ttttt  ^Utt 


III 

C6e  Secret  Place 

Christ  emphasized  in  His  teaching 
and  by  His  example  the  private  life  of 
devotion  much  more  than  the  public 
life  of  worship.  Both  are  of  great 
value  to  spiritual  growth  and  enjoy- 
ment, and  will  need  cultivation  for  the 
highest  results. 

The  inner  chamber  is  but  one  form 
of  private  devotion,  and  the  Savior 
must  have  found  it  helpful  in  His 
own  experience,  or  he  would  not  have 
commended  it  so  urgently  upon  His 
disciples.  No  rule  of  conduct  and  no 
principle  of  the  deepest  spirituality 
was  urged  by  Him  upon  others  which 
He  had  not  first  tried.  His  need  was 
as  great  as  ours,  and  with  more  ear- 
nestness and  sincerity  than  we  can  ever 
command  He  searched  for  the  best 
and  surest  paths  of  progress.     When 

35 


€W^t  SDnt  SDebottonal  example 

He  tells  us,  therefore,  to  close  all  the 
doors  that  open  to  the  world  around 
us,  and  to  sit  down  in  a  face-to-face 
interview  with  the  Father,  we  shall 
expect  it  to  be  in  some  way  a  source  of 
delight  and  strength. 

One  thing  is  very  sure  to  happen 
when  we  have  closed  the  door  and  are 
alone  with  God — we  shall  at  least  be 
honest  with  ourselves.  It  is  not  easy 
to  be  strictly  honest  in  the  presence  of 
the  great  crowd;  we  are  not  our  real 
and  truest  selves  when  we  know  that 
the  world  is  watching  us,  and  drawing 
its  conclusions  from  the  premises  of 
our  actions  and  words.  Indeed  there 
are  not  many  of  us  who  are  willing  to 
reveal  our  real  selves  to  our  nearest 
and  dearest  friends.  There  is  within 
each  one  of  us  a  holy  of  holies,  into 
which  we  allow  no  one  to  enter  but  the 
high  priest  of  our  own  personality. 
Much  as  we  love  our  dearest  earthly 
friends,  we  are  loth  to  tell  them  all  our 
thoughts  and  temptations  and  aspira- 
tions; and  yet  to  the  extent  that  we 

36 


%it  &ttm  ^latt 


have  learned  to  do  this  with  our  dearest 
friend,  whom  we  can  take  with  us  be- 
hind the  closed  door,  and  to  whom  we 
are  willing  to  disclose  our  most  secret 
selves,  have  we  found  the  highest  com- 
munion possible,  except  that  with  the 
Father  himself.  With  Him  there  is 
nothing  to  be  gained  by  our  withhold- 
ing anything,  for  He  knows  it  already ; 
and  when  we  recognize  this  great  truth, 
and  know  that  He  is  our  sympathizing 
and  truest  Friend,  the  door  of  the 
secret  chamber  will  close  many  times, 
and  shut  the  world  outside.  The  rev- 
elation of  ourselves  to  ourselves  in  the 
presence  of  Him  who  knows  us  al- 
together, will  be  neither  distracting 
nor  disheartening. 

The  inner  chamber  will  also  be  a 
means  of  strength.  Every  soul  has  its 
own  struggles,  and,  in  a  sense,  must 
fight  them  alone;  not  alone,  indeed,  if 
he  has  found  this  secret  place  of  spirit- 
ual power  and  grace.  We  are  not 
stronger  in  the  front  of  battle  than  is 
our  strength   in   the   quiet   and   still 

37 


CStfet  SDm  SDebotfonal  (Example 

hours  of  meditation.  It  has  been  said 
that  every  life  that  would  be  mighty 
must  know  what  it  is  to  muse.  This 
is  the  necessary  preparation  for  active 
service.  Silence  and  solitude  will 
dispel  our  vanity  of  spirit,  and  show  us 
the  weak  places  in  our  spiritual  armor, 
better  than  the  fiery  darts  of  the  enemy 
in  life's  actual  conflicts.  He  has  not 
learned  to  fight  well  in  the  open  who 
has  not  first  been  trained  in  secret  in 
all  the  habiliments  and  maneuvers  of 
war.  "In  thy  chamber  thou  shalt  find 
what  abroad  thou  shalt  too  often  lose." 
If  Jesus  so  often  avoided  the  multi- 
tude, and  taught  His  disciples  so  to  do, 
shall  we  not  likewise  accustom  our- 
selves in  our  deepest  longings  to  be 
alone?  Life  has  many  calls  and  makes 
many  demands,  but  none  is  more  im- 
perative than  some  time  every  day  to 
shut  the  door.  The  busiest  man  or 
woman  will  find  more  time,  rather  than 
less,  of  advantage  and  enjoyment.  The 
greatest  wrong  Christians  are  bringing 
upon  themselves  to-day   is  that  they 

38 


%it  Secret  Place 


never  shut  the  door  upon  the  world. 
We  have  no  time  for  anything  but  our 
business;  the  gross  things  of  life 
consume  our  energies  and  leave  only 
the  blackened  ruins  of  unsatisfied  spir- 
itual cravings.  Better,  far  better,  less 
of  the  world,  and  more  of  God.  Yes, 
we  must  see  Him  alone  and  tell  Him  of 
our  failures,  our  desires,  our  successes ; 
and  when,  from  behind  the  door  which 
has  shut  out  the  tumults  of  the  world 
and  its  incessant  and  disheartening 
strife,  we  hear  His  voice  in  tones  of 
command,  correction,  or  approval,  the 
path  outside  will  be  the  easier  and  the 
smoother.  Another  has  said,  "Stay 
with  Him  in  thy  closet;  for  thou  shalt 
not  find  so  great  peace  anywhere  else." 
As  I  write  these  lines,  it  comes  to  me 
with  a  power  I  have  never  felt  before 
how  easy  it  is  for  us  to  sit  behind  the 
shut  door  with  an  absent  friend.  The 
one  I  love  best  is  many  miles  away,  and 
yet  she  has  been  constantly  in  my 
thought,  early  and  late,  in  the  busiest 
hours  of  the  day  and  in  the  silent 

39 


€W0t  SDnt  SDebatfonal  C^EampIe 

watches  of  the  night.  Scarcely  a  task 
has  been  commenced  or  finished  that 
she  has  not  known  all  about,  if  thought 
can  bridge  the  rivers  and  climb  the 
mountains.  I  have  seen  her  go  about 
her  daily  work,  have  heard  her  voice  in 
song,  have  pictured  the  family  group 
in  the  distant  home ;  and  these  thoughts 
of  her  have  been  my  joy  and  strength. 

Something  like  this  is  what  Jesus 
means  when  He  asks  us  to  shut  the 
door  and  talk  with  Him.  Is  it  not  just 
as  easy  to  think  of  Him,  and  to  recall 
His  words  and  deeds  of  love  among 
men?  May  we  not  have  as  clear  a 
picture  of  our  Christ  hanging  on  the 
walls  of  our  memory  as  we  have  of  our 
dearest  earthly  friend?  Yes,  we  have 
seen  Him,  and  talked  with  Him.  The 
inner  chamber,  the  closed  door,  are 
blessed  realities. 


40 


Come   ye   yourselves   apart  into   a   desert  place, 
and  rest  a  while. 


Out  of  the  earthly  good  which  Thou  hast  given, 
The  beauty  and  the  blessedness  which  be, 

How  shall  I  gather  up  and  take  to  heaven 
Thine  own,  with  usury? 

How  shall  I  give  Thee  back  the  morning  splendor. 
Purple  of  folding  mists,  and  sunset  glow? 

What  answer  at  Thy  judgment  shall  I  render 
For  Thy  white  Gelds  of  snow? 

What  reckoning  wilt  Thou  ask  me  for  the  roses, 
The  lilies  of  the  field,  and  goldenrod? 

The  treasure  of  Thy  woods  when  spring  uncloses 
How  shall  I  give  Thee,  God? 

Set  Thou  Thy  hand  upon  my  spirit,  sealing 
Thy  parables  of  sun  and  flower  and  frost, 

That  in  Thy  day  of  reckoning  and  revealing 
Not  one  of  them  be  lost. 

Wrought  in  my  heart  by  holy  transmutation, 
Bloomed  in  my  soul  for  other  souls  to  see, 

Let  me  give  back  the  beauty  of  creation — 
Thine  own,  with  usury. 

— Mabel  Earlc. 


mit^  il3atute 


IV 
mitt  iQatute 

Weary  and  worn  with  labor,  and  sad 
in  heart  because  of  the  word  that  His 
disciples  had  brought  Him  concerning 
the  cruel  blow  that  had  fallen  upon 
John,  Christ  crossed  the  sea  to  be  in  a 
desert  place  apart.  The  death  of  the 
forerunner  was  a  crisis  in  the  life  of 
our  Lord,  for  its  meaning  was  felt 
much  more  bj  Him  than  by  any  or  all 
of  the  disciples.  The  great  preacher  of 
righteousness  had  met  a  most  tragic 
end,  and  the  Christ  was  now  left  alone 
to  carry  on  the  work  which  John  had  so 
auspiciously  begun. 

But  why  does  Jesus  go  to  the  desert? 
It  was  not  a  desolate,  barren  waste 
where  He  sought  refuge.  The  "wilder- 
ness" of  the  temptation,  and  the  "desert 
place  apart"  were  lonely,  uninhabited 
regions,  remote  from  the  dwellings  of 

43 


C|)ti0t  SDnt  SDebotional  (E^eample 

men  and  the  highways  of  commerce. 
We  know  this  to  be  true,  for  in  this 
desert  place  He  commanded  the  hungry 
multitudes  that  followed  Him  from  the 
towns  and  cities  to  sit  down  on  the 
grass  before  He  fed  them.  In  the 
shadow  of  His  great  bereavement,  and 
in  the  still  deeper  shadow  of  His  own 
death  throwing  itself  across  His  path- 
way, He  must  be  alone  with  nature  and 
with  nature's  God ;  and  yet  not  entirely 
alone,  for  the  little  boat  carried  with 
Him  across  the  sea  to  the  quiet  retreat 
the  little  band  of  returned  mission- 
aries. 

In  all  of  this  we  see  another  form  or 
phase  of  Christ's  religious  life.  His 
sympathy  with  nature  was  keen  and 
abundant.  Think  of  the  many  illus- 
trations drawn  from  nature  and  used 
so  freely  in  all  His  talks  with  the 
people.  The  heavens,  the  earth,  the 
sea,  and  even  their  depths,  did  not 
escape  His  thoughtful  and  reverent 
study.  The  birds,  the  flowers,  the  grass, 
the  fish,  the  rocks,  the  mountains,  all 

44 


Wiiti  Batnte 


appeal  to  that  love  which  draws  us  in 
tenderness  to  the  great  heart  of  nature. 
His  spiritual  life  responded  in  no  little 
measure  to  the  beauty  and  power  of  the 
natural  world. 

And  it  should  be  so  with  us.  Our  too 
strenuous  and  grasping  life  makes  us 
forget  our  mother  earth.  Wordsworth 
has  sweetly  said : 

"The  world  is  too  much  with  us ;  late  and  soon, 
Getting  and  spending,  we  lay  waste  our  powers ; 
Little  we  see  in  nature  that  is  ours ; 
We  have  given  our  hearts  away,  a  sordid  boon! 
This  sea  that  bares  her  bosom  to  the  moon ; 
The  winds  that  will  be  howling  at  all  hours, 
And  are  up-gathered  now  like  sleeping  flowers, 
For  this,  for  everything,  we  are  out  of  tune, 
It  moves  us  not." 

Long  ago,  the  Hebrew  poet  sang : 

"The  heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God; 
And  the  firmament  showeth  his  handiwork." 

In  beautiful  phrase  of  poetic  prose, 
the  old  prophet  Isaiah  declares : 

"The  mountains  and  the  hills  shall  break  forth 
before  you  into  singing,  and  all  the  trees  of  the 
field  shall  clap  their  hands." 


45 


€iti^t  SDnt  SDebotional  €%amplt 

And  so  we  do  not  wonder  that  Jesus 
Himself,  who  was  the  greatest  of  all 
poets  and  seers,  found  refreshment  in 
the  thought  that  God  fed  the  birds  and 
clothed  the  grass  of  the  field  with 
beauty. 

Oh,  how  much  of  quiet  but  deep  and 
abiding  joy  we  lose  when  we  have  lost 
our  love  for  nature.  There  is  no  mem- 
ory of  childhood  days  that  clings  more 
tenaciously  to  our  advancing  years 
than  the  walks  and  rambles  along  the 
streams  and  in  the  woods.  But  we 
may,  if  we  will,  carry  with  us  into 
middle  life  and  old  age  these  precious 
communings  with  nature.  We  wrong 
ourselves  if  we  do  not  read  God's  mes- 
sage in  the  physical  world  about  us. 
Surely  He  does  not  mean  that  we 
should  think  of  it  only  as  the  gross 
material  upon  which  we  are  to  concen- 
trate our  activities  for  base  and  ignoble 
ends.  There  is  something  in  common 
between  nature  and  man,  and  what  can 
it  be  except  that  they  are  made  each  for 
the  other  by  one  common  hand? 

46 


mitb  Bsitntt 


There  are  some  who  would  have  us 
believe  that  God  has  abandoned  the 
world,  as  a  man  would  forsake  a  worn- 
out  machine.  It  cannot  be.  He  is  not 
far  away  from  a  world  so  beautiful  as 
ours.  In  the  morning  of  its  creation, 
He  said  it  was  very  good,  and  it  has 
lost  none  of  the  features  it  then  had. 
Nature  is  still  the  expression  of  His 
will  and  character,  and  to  the  medi- 
tative soul  it  has  a  tender  voice.  Even 
in  its  rougher  moods,  in  the  howling  of 
the  tempest  and  the  flashing  of  the 
lightnings,  there  is  food  for  hungry 
souls. 

What  may  we  not  find  in  the  devout 
contemplation  of  nature!  How  many 
lessons  we  may  learn  to  guide  the  paths 
we  make  through  life!  For  nature  is 
a  great  teacher,  and  we  do  well  to  stop 
our  mad  rush  for  gain  and  glory  to 
put  ourselves  under  so  wise  tuition. 
Nowhere  can  we  better  learn  that 
God's  ways  are  better  than  our  ways, 
and  His  thoughts  than  our  thoughts. 
To  chasten  and  soften  the  spirit  that  is 

47 


CJrfet  flDur  2Debotional  (Ciample 

made  hard  by  contact  with  the  unsym- 
pathetic world  of  mankind,  to  purify 
and  ennoble  the  emotions  and  affec- 
tions which  become  dull,  if  not  indeed 
quite  dead,  by  the  routine  of  life's 
cares,  there  is  no  book  more  easily 
accessible  and  powerful  than  that 
which  is  spread  out  before  us  in  land- 
scape and  sky. 

He,  indeed,  is  happy  who  can  follow 
his  Master  into  the  desert  place  apart. 
When  Christ  was  about  to  have  some 
new  and  strange  experience,  it  was  His 
custom,  as  one  has  said,  "to  step  back 
a  pace  or  two,  like  some  runner  about 
to  take  a  leap."  So  it  was  with  Moses, 
Elijah,  and  John  the  Baptist.  So  it 
has  been  with  the  heroes  of  our  religion 
in  all  ages.  If  we  would  be  like  Him, 
we  shall  find  strength  and  comfort  in 
the  fields  and  woods,  by  the  streams 
and  lakes,  among  the  trees  and  fiowers. 

"On  that  day  went  Jesus  out  of  the 
house,  and  sat  by  the  seaside.''  Can 
we  not  see  Him  there,  pondering  deeply 
the  future  of  His  work?    Bead  what 

48 


mm  iRatutt 


follows  that  first  verse  of  the  thirteenth 
chapter  of  Matthew^s  Gospel.  After 
the  crowd  had  broken  into  the  Savior's 
quiet  retreat,  from  a  little  boat  on  the 
placid  and  glimmering  sea  He  spoke 
that  marvelous  series  of  parables  which 
set  forth,  not  only  the  nature  of  the  ob- 
stacles to  the  kingdom  He  had  come  on 
earth  to  establish,  but  also  its  certain 
growth  and  final  consummation. 

Blessed  sea  was  that  to  have  so  much 
of  the  Master's  presence!  He  must 
have  found  along  its  shores  that  which 
calmed  His  spirit  and  made  Him  hope- 
ful. 

"And  when  I  read  the  thrilling  love 
Of  Him  who  walked  upon  the  sea, 
I  long,  oh,  how  I  long  once  more 
To  follow  Him  in  Galilee. 

"O  Galilee,  sweet  Galilee, 
Where  Jesus  loved  so  much  to  be; 
O  Galilee,  blue  Galilee, 
Come  sing  thy  song  again  to  me." 


49 


Ye  search  the  scriptures,  hecause  ye  think  that 
in  them  ye  have  eternal  life;  and  these  are  they 
which  'bear  witness  of  me. 


There  *s  One  whose  life  I  love  to  read, 
Such  truth  was  His,  such  gracious  deed ! 
It  met  the  common  people  's  need ; 
Where'er  He  was,  a  crowd  would  be, 
On  Jordan's  banks,  beside  the  sea, 
Or  in  the  ways  of  Galilee. 
The  words  He  spake,  the  works  He  did. 
Were  light,  and  '*He  could  not  be  hid." 

Sometimes   I   fancy   I  'm  among 
That  eager   Galilean  throng 
Who  followed  Jesus  all  day  long ; 

They  followed  Him  His  gifts  to  share?; 

The  sinful,  sick,  and  poor  were  there. 

Charmed  by  His  wisdom,  love,  and  care. 

The  words  He  spake,  the  works  He  did. 

Were  light,  and  "He  could  not  be  hid." 

He  taught  what  all  men  want  to  know 
While  they  are  pilgrims  here  below. 
Exposed  to  sickness,  sin,  and  woe ; 
How  foul  disease  may  find  a  cure. 
How  sinful  hearts  may  be  made  pure, 
And  life,  eternal  life,  made  sure. 
The  words  He  spake,  the  works  He  did. 
Were  light,  and  "He  could  not  be  hid." 

That  Life  of  Light  has  gone  away. 

But  He  has  left  His  church  to  stay. 

To  shine  until  the  final  day ; 

For  this  dark  world  a  beaming  light. 
Becoming  every  year  more  bright, 
To  banish  wholly  pagan  night. 

The  church  which  does  as  Jesus  did 

Is  light,  and  it  cannot  be  hid. 

— William  T.  Sleeper. 


Jt  i0  Written 


V 

3t  f0  mtitten 

It  is  not  strange  at  all  that  Jesus 
was  familiar  with  the  Old-Testament 
Scriptures,  the  Bible  of  His  day.  We 
need  not  ask  by  what  means,  or  at  what 
age  He  learned  to  read  it ;  the  fact  that 
He  knew  the  history  of  His  people,  that 
He  quoted  so  frequently  from  these 
sacred  books,  that  much  of  His  style 
and  vocabulary  is  drawn  from  Old-Tes- 
tament writers,  is  evidence  sufficient 
that  it  had  become  a  large  part  of  His 
thought  and  meditation.  The  reader 
of  the  Gospels  in  the  Revised  Version 
will  see  at  a  glance  the  frequent  use 
Christ  made  of  these  old  writings. 

This  is  not  the  place  to  discuss  the 
relation  of  the  New  Testament  to  the 
Old,  and  yet  it  is  worth  while,  perhaps, 
to  say  that  Christ's  use  of  the  Old  has 
helped  vastly  to  show  their  unity.    Es- 

53 


€W^i  flDut  SDetJotional  (Eiampk 

peciallj  is  this  true  of  the  value  He 
placed  upon  the  Scriptures  as  a  means 
of  spiritual  culture.  He  was  very  clear 
in  His  statement  that  they  bore  witness 
of  Him,  but  searching  the  Scriptures 
did  not  always  result  in  finding  Him. 
It  seems  to  be  true  that  even  in  His 
day  there  was  some  Bible  study  that 
was  not  always  profitable,  for  it  missed 
the  mark  of  revealing  Jesus  Christ  to 
the  hearts  of  men,  and  subsequently 
the  result  was  their  refusing  to  accept 
Him  as  their  Lord.  Plainly  did  He  say 
to  the  generation  of  that  time,  "For  if 
ye  believed  Moses,  ye  would  believe  me; 
for  he  wrote  of  me.  But  if  ye  believe 
not  his  writings,  how  shall  ye  believe 
my  words?" 

But  how  did  Christ  become  familiar 
with  the  contents  and  the  spiritual  in- 
terpretation of  the  Old  Testament? 
Let  us  grant  that  He  had  a  spiritual 
insight  it  is  not  possible  for  sinful  be- 
ings to  have.  It  may  be  that  having 
no  sin,  not  because  it  was  impossible 
for  Him  to  sin,  but  because  He  refused 

54 


Jt  fe  mmun 


to  yield  to  sin,  Christ  found  the  road  to 
the  Father  easier  than  it  will  be  for  any 
of  us.  We  shall  not  take  away  from 
Christ  the  intellectual  supremacy  that 
belongs  to  Him.  But  if  His  endow- 
ments were  greater,  it  would  not  be 
surprising  if  His  needs  and  tempta- 
tions were  greater  also.  Highly  organ- 
ized beings  are  a  hundredfold  more 
sensitive  to  external  and  internal  influ- 
ences than  the  lower  and  more  simple. 
Even  Christ  was  made  perfect  through 
suffering,  so  that  His  load  was  not 
easy.  His  burden  was  not  light;  He 
needed  strength  and  comfort  as  we 
need  them  in  working  out  the  problems 
of  our  life  and  destiny. 

If  Jesus  was  thus  human  as  well  as 
divine,  He  would  follow  every  road 
that  would  fortify  and  satisfy  His  na- 
ture. This  alone  explains  His  wonder- 
ful familiarity  with  and  reliance  upon 
Scripture.  He  hurled  against  Satan 
the  words  that  God  had  written;  He 
confounded  the  Pharisees  again  and 
again  by  quoting  in  confirmation   of 

55 


€W&t  SDnt  SDebotfonal  CS^ampIe 

His  work  their  own  trusted  documents. 
Sometimes  He  thus  strengthened  the 
wavering  faith  of  His  disciples,  and  re- 
buked the  murmurings  of  His  enemies. 
In  the  crisis  of  physical  and  mental 
suffering  on  the  cross,  there  springs 
to  His  lips  the  cry  of  the  psalmist  in 
the  dark  and  lonely  hour  of  anguish. 
And  after  His  resurrection,  the  little 
band  that  took  with  Him  that  after- 
noon walk  to  Emmaus  did  not  soon 
forget  the  way  in  which  He  had  opened 
to  them  the  Scriptures,  just  as  the  as- 
sembled multitude  at  Nazareth  a  few 
months  before  wondered  at  the  gra- 
cious words  that  proceeded  out  of  His 
mouth.  No  one  there  that  day  knew 
so  well  the  meaning  of  that  marvelous 
prophecy  of  Isaiah  concerning  Him- 
self. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  say  that  the  de- 
voutest  Christians  are  diligent  stu- 
dents of  the  Word.  No  faith  can  be  so 
strong  that  it  will  not  need  some  sup- 
port, and,  indeed,  the  stronger  the 
faith,  the  more  intrenched  it  is  in  the 

56 


It  (0  mtitun 


great  truths  of  the  Scriptures.  Com- 
munion with  God  through  His  Word 
is  not  only  a  duty,  a  means  of  grace, 
but  it  is  a  great  delight.  The  words  of 
Jesus  are  meat  and  drink  to  those 
whose  souls  hunger  and  thirst  for  Him. 
"The  words  that  I  speak  unto  you,  they 
are  Spirit,  and  they  are  life.'' 

When  we  come  to  measure  our  relig- 
ious experience,  we  shall  find  nothing 
to  occupy  so  large  a  place  as  our  knowl- 
edge of  and  appropriation  of  the  Bible. 
As  an  interpreter  of  life,  it  furnishes  a 
standard  for  conduct,  and  constantly 
reminds  us,  what  we  are  too  prone  to 
forget,  that  Christ  has  come  into  the 
world  to  give  us  not  only  life,  but  the 
abundant  life.  In  the  crises  and  emer- 
gencies of  life,  there  is  no  other  source 
of  comfort  that  brings  us  peace.  Be- 
fore the  light  which  comes  from  the 
Bible,  the  darkest  clouds  that  can 
gather  above  and  around  us  disappear. 
The  Bible  finds  us  in  every  condition, 
and  finds  us  in  the  deepest  longings 
and  yearnings  of  our  spiritual  needs. 

57 


€W0t  SDixt  JD^botional  (Example 

Have  we  not  found  it,  indeed,  to  be  the 
guide  of  our  life  in  youth,  in  manhood, 
in  old  age? 

What  we  get  out  of  the  Bible  will 
depend  altogether  on  the  purpose  and 
method  of  our  study.  So  many  Chris- 
tians have  said  that  it  does  not  interest 
them;  they  cannot  find  its  beauties, 
and  even  while  they  read  it,  their  minds 
are  elsewhere.  They  admit  that  others 
can  discover  glorious  truths  and  help- 
ful lessons,  but  they  cannot.  It  is  true 
that  none  of  us  will  find  all  its  beauties 
and  blessings,  but  it  need  not  be  a 
sealed  book  to  any  one  who  is  really; 
anxious  to  find  its  hidden  treasures. 
We  value  and  appreciate  a  book  the 
author  of  which  we  know,  and  in  the 
subject  of  which  we  have  an  interest. 
May  this  not  suggest  the  reason  why 
Bible  study  has  not  found  favor  with 
many?  If  we  do  not  really  know 
Christ,  if  we  have  not  made  Him  the 
companion  of  our  daily  toil  and  the 
sharer  of  all  our  joys  and  sorrows,  we 
are  not  likely  to  put  a  very  high  esti- 

58 


Jt  10  mtitttn 


mate  upon  His  words ;  but  to  those  who 
have  been  joined  personally  to  Jesus 
Christ  has  come  a  joy  from  the  reading 
and  study  of  His  Word  that  they  would 
not  exchange  for  all  this  world. 

The  study  of  the  Bible  as  a  means  of 
grace  is  the  highest  achievement  of  all. 
We  must  come  to  it  with  attention, 
with  prayer,  with  appreciation,  with 
discriminating  judgment,  with  appro- 
priating faith.  Of  all  these,  the  most 
essential,  perhaps,  is  the  spirit  of 
prayer,  for  prayer  will  bring  us 
through  the  words  of  Scripture  into 
the  presence  of  God.  Difficulties  will 
then  vanish,  and  doubt  will  lose  its 
power;  the  printed  page  will  then  be 
radiant  with  light,  and  the  heart  will 
find  what  it  most  needs.  The  listening 
ear  will  hear  the  voice  of  God. 

Shall  we  not  as  a  means  of  grace,  as 
a  source  of  comfort,  as  a  real  delight, 
meditate  more  and  more  upon  the 
blessed  truths  of  the  Word  of  God  and 
incarnate  them  in  our  lives!  Then 
shall  we  become  living  epistles,  little 

59 


Cfitfet  SDnt  SDebotfonal  (Eiamplt 

Bibles,  known  and  read  of  our  fellow- 
men.  This  very  day,  this  very  night, 
may  we  open  the  Book  with  new  pur- 
pose of  heart  to  find  God. 

"How  sweet  are  thy  words  unto  my  taste! 
Yea,  sweeter  than  honey  to  my  mouth!'* 


60 


Men  ought  always   to  pray,  and  not  to  faint. 


Be  not  afraid  to  pray, — to  pray  is  right. 

Pray,  if  thou  canst,  with  hope ;  but  ever  pray, 

Though  hope  be  weak,  or  sick  with   long  delay; 

Pray  in  the  darkness,  if  there  be  no  light. 

Far  is  the  time  remote   from  human  sight 

When  war  and  discord  on  the  earth  shall  cease; 

Yet  every  prayer  for  universal  peace 

Avails  the  blessed  time  to  expedite. 

Whate'er  is  good  to  wish,  ask  that  of  Heaven, 

Though   it  be  what  thou  canst  not  hope  to  see ; 

Pray  to  be  perfect,  though  material  leaven 

Forbid  the  spirit  so  on  earth  to  be ; 

But  if  for  any  wish  thou  darest  not  pray, 

Then  pray  to  God  to  cast  that  wish  away. 

— Hartley  Coleridge. 


'JteacS  Wi0  to  Ptas 


VI 

Ceacf)  Us  to  Ptap 

The  reader  of  the  Gospels  has  often 
noticed  the  emphasis  placed  upon 
prayer  by  Christ  in  His  teaching,  and 
not  less  the  fact  that  Christ  himself 
was  much  given  to  prayer.  It  seems 
all  the  more  surprising  when  we  re- 
member that  He  was  sinless,  and  that 
at  no  time  did  He  ever  repent  for  any 
word  or  deed.  There  are  many  evi- 
dences that  He  felt  all  the  limitations 
of  humanity,  and,  therefore,  the  sense 
of  dependence  was  as  keen  in  Him  as 
it  is  in  us.  It  was  in  His  prayer-life 
that  this  dependence  was  most  mani- 
fest, and  if  Jesus  felt  the  need  of  prayer 
to  calm  and  strengthen  His  spirit,  how 
much  more  do  we  need  it  in  the  storm 
and  stress  of  our  wayward  life ! 

We  find  many  more  references  to 
prayer  in  private  than  to  prayer  in 

63 


CJtfet  SDnt  S>tbotioml  (E^Eample 

public.  Some  are  willing  to  contend 
that  He  never  prayed  with  others,  but 
always  before  others,  or  for  others,  or 
alone.  The  occasions  of  His  prayers 
are  full  of  interest.  At  His  baptism 
(Luke  3:21,  22),  before  choosing  His 
apostles  (Luke  6:12),  at  and  after 
the  feeding  of  the  five  thousand  ( Mark 
6:  3946),  at  the  transfiguration  (Luke 
9:28,  29),  at  the  tomb  of  Lazarus 
(John  11:35-44),  for  Peter  (Luke  22: 
32),  in  Gethsemane  (Mark  14:32-42), 
on  the  cross  (Mark  15:33-35), — these 
all  indicate  a  variety  of  circumstance 
and  need,  and  show  conclusively  that 
prayer  was  a  fixed  habit  of  our  Lord. 

If  we  could  here  study  the  prayers  of 
Jesus,  we  would  be  surprised  at  their 
number  and  the  wide  range  of  supplica- 
tion contained  in  them.  There  can  be 
no  doubt  that  they  have  come  down  to 
us  much  abridged,  and  yet,  somehow, 
their  brevity  and  conciseness  argue 
their  completeness.  Repetitions  and 
circumlocutions  are  not  to  be  found; 
they  are  the  utterance  of  a  heart  that 

64 


'UTeacfi  Wi^  to  Ptap 


feels  its  own  need,  and  that  of  others. 
How  much  we  might  learn  in  this  first 
characteristic  of  our  Lord's  recorded 
prayers!  He  has  also  said  that  we 
should  not  use  vain  repetitions  as  the 
heathen  do,  who  think  thej  shall  be 
heard  for  their  much  speaking.  The 
sentence-prayer  has  its  place  and  power 
in  the  busy  life  of  the  Nazarene.  In- 
deed, so  constant  and  habitual  was  His 
communion  with  the  Father  that  He 
kept  it  up  in  the  midst  of  the  multi- 
tude, and  converted  the  crowded  street 
into  a  religious  retreat.  He  found  time 
to  talk  with  God  even  when  most 
pressed  by  friend  and  foe.  And  so  must 
we,  if  we  would  appropriate  the  most 
blessed  gift  and  at  the  same  time  the 
most  powerful  weapon  God  has  given 
to  us. 

When  we  remember  that  prayer  is 
mighty,  almost  omnipotent,  and  that 
we  are  commanded  to  use  it,  we  wonder 
that  it  has  entered  so  little  into  our 
daily  lives.  We  have  not  learned  the 
sweetest  lesson  in  the  school  of  our 

5  65 


€iti0t  SDnt  2DelJotional  dample 

religious  training,  until  we  find  place 
and  time  for  deep  and  quiet  com- 
munion with  God. 

We  have  said  that  Christ  was  sinless, 
and,  therefore,  confession  of  sin  has  no 
place  in  His  prayers.  Not  so,  however, 
with  thanksgiving  and  petition,  as 
parts  or  elements  of  true  prayer.  The 
Father's  grace  and  mercy  He  grate- 
fully acknowledged,  sometimes  indi- 
rectly, but  easily  felt  in  the  words 
themselves.  He  freely  asked  for  the 
things  His  heart  craved,  and  when  the 
shadows  fell  across  His  path,  the  open- 
ness of  His  spirit  was  the  best  evidence 
that  God  was  near  to  sustain  and  bless. 
When  the  doors  of  our  hearts  are  open, 
and  we  sit  within  with  a  sense  of  de- 
pendence and  expectancy,  God  is  not 
afar  off,  nor  will  He  need  to  be  awaked. 
Even  before  we  call.  He  enters,  a  wel- 
comed guest  to  sit  and  sup  with  us. 

Sometimes  the  answer  to  prayer  is 
the  answer  of  denial,  and  even  Jesus 
had  to  take  at  times  such  an  answer. 
But  let  us  never  forget  that,  for  the 


%tatli  Wi0  to  ptai^ 


best  reasons,  denial  is  after  all  a  true 
answer  to  prayer.  If  the  cup  for  the 
passing  of  which  Jesus  prayed  had  not 
been  pressed  to  His  lips,  there  would 
have  been  no  atonement  for  the  world's 
sin.  But  His  prayer  subordinated  His 
will  to  that  of  the  Father's  and  so  was 
answered,  even  though  the  thipg 
prayed  for  was  denied.  His  supreme 
joy  was  the  doing  of  the  Father's  will, 
not  His  own,  and  in  this  quiet  resigna- 
tion He  has  set  for  us  the  supreme 
example  of  conduct  in  what  many. of 
us  have  called  our  unanswered  prayers. 
The  Christian's  prayer-life  is  .  the 
truest  expression  of  his  deepest  yearn- 
ings. It  is  the  secret  of  his  power,  the 
measure  of  his  usefulness,  the  key-note 
of  his  joy.  The  church  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  needs  nothing  so  much  as  it 
needs  a  revival  of  prayer, — incessant, 
faithful,  hopeful  intercession  at  the 
throne.  In  the  last  analysis  the  source 
of  the  power  of  the  individual  Chris- 
tian and  of  any  spiritual  movement  is 
God,  and  the  energies  of  God  are  re- 

67 


Cbti0t  SDut  9Detiotional  (£tamplt 

leased  in  answer  to  prayer.  Whatever 
is  needed  in  your  life  and  mine  to  make 
them  stronger,  purer,  and  more  fruit- 
ful in  the  salvation  of  others,  is  within 
our  reach,  if  we  use,  as  Jesus  Christ 
used,  so  simply,  so  constantly,  so  pre- 
vailingly, the  opportunity  of  unlocking 
by  prayer  the  energies  of  our  God. 

O  Christian,  have  you  prayed  to-day? 
Have  you  seen  the  Father's  counte- 
nance filled  with  blessed  light  turned 
full  upon  your  soul?  Have  you  heard 
His  voice  in  sweetest  accent  saying 
unto  you.  Be  still,  my  child,  I  am  thy 
God? 

A  comparatively  young  man,  who 
has  gone  around  the  world  several 
times  in  the  interests  of  the  Student 
Volunteer  Movement,  writes  in  these 
words  of  a  part  of  his  journey :  "When 
I  went  through  Palestine  I  was  deeply 
moved  with  the  reflection,  that  if  the 
little  hill  back  of  Nazareth  could  dis- 
close its  secret;  if  the  Galilean  lake 
could  tell  what  has  transpired  there ;  if 
the  desert  places  round  about  Jerusa- 

68 


^tati  WL0  to  Pta^ 


lem  could  unfold  their  story;  if  the 
olive-trees  could  reveal  what  they  have 
witnessed,  they  would  fill  in  the  silent 
places  of  the  Gospels  and  would  tell  us 
chiefly  about  the  prayer-life  of  our 
Lord.  They  would  tell  us  of  the  range 
of  his  prayer-life,  of  its  unselfishness, 
of  its  intensity,  of  its  unceasingness,  of 
its  fervor,  and  of  its  irresistible  power 
because  of  the  godly  fear  behind  it." 

Are  we  not  ready  now  to  resolve  in 
the  quiet  of  this  meditation  to  possess 
a  stronger  ambition  than  ever  to  be 
men  and  women  of  prayer?  Let  us  fol- 
low in  the  footsteps  of  Jesus  Christ, 
our  great  exemplar.  Lord,  teach  us  to 
pray. 


ed 


/  have  spoken  openly  to  the  world;  I  ever  taught 
in  synagogues,  and  in  the  temple. 


I  WAS  glad  when  they  said  unto  me. 
Let  us  go  unto  the  house  of  Jehovah. 
Our  feet  are  standing 
Within  thy  gates,  O  Jerusalem, 
Jerusalem,  that  art  builded 
As  a  city  that  is  compact  together; 
Whither  the  tribes  go  up,  even  the  tribes  of  Jeho- 
vah, 
For  an  ordinance  for  Israel, 
To  give  thanks  unto  the  name  of  Jehovah. 
For  there  are  set  thrones  for  judgment, 
The  thrones  of  the  house  of  David. 
Pray  for  the  peace  of  Jerusalem ; 
They  shall  prosper  that  love  thee. 
Peace  be  within  thy  walls, 
And  prosperity  within  thy  palaces. 
For  my  brethren  and  companions'  sakes, 
I  will  now  say,  Peace  be  within  thee. 
For  the  sake  of  the  house  of  Jehovah  our  God 
I  will  seek  thy  good. 

—Psalm  122, 


In  tit  Public  Place 


VII 

m  tl)e  public  place 

It  has  been  said  elsewhere  that  Jesus 
had  much  more  to  say  about  private 
than  about  public  devotion.  It  would 
be  wrong,  however,  to  conclude  that  He 
avoided  public  worship,  or  that  His 
teaching  of  its  place  and  usefulness  in 
the  Christian  life  is  scanty  or  obscure. 
There  are  very  many  references  in  the 
Gospels  to  His  presence  in  the  syn- 
agogues and  temple,  and  though  these 
definitely  mention  his  part  of  the  serv- 
ice in  these  meeting-places  of  the 
people  to  be  that  of  teaching,  no  one 
will  for  an  instant  suppose  that  He 
took  no  other  part. 

We  have  often  wished  that  we  might 
know  more  of  His  life  before  His  public 
career  began.  Not  many  of  us  can  im- 
itate Him  in  the  occupations  of  His 
ministry,  nor  can  we  reproduce  in  oui* 

73 


€iti0t  flDuc  SDebotional  (Ejcample 

own  experience,  fully  at  least,  the  cir- 
cumstances that  surrounded  Him  dur- 
ing those  three  eventful  years.  Most 
of  us,  however,  are  placed  for  a  shorter 
or  longer  period  early  in  life  in  condi- 
tions very  similar  to  those  among 
which  He  grew  for  almost  thirty  years. 
Another  has  well  said,  "It  was  during 
these  years  that  His  life  is  for  us  the 
main  example  of  how  we  ought  to  live. 
This  Master  who  was  to  teach  all  vir- 
tues, and  to  point  out  the  way  of  life, 
began,  from  His  youth  up,  by  sanctify- 
ing in  His  own  person  the  practices  of 
the  virtuous  life  He  came  to  teach." 

It  has  seemed  to  me  that  those  thirty 
years  are  the  necessary  background  to 
that  beautiful  picture  given  us  in  the 
fourth  chapter  of  Luke.  Into  that  lit- 
tle synagogue  at  Nazareth  he  went,  "as 
w^as  his  custom  on  the  Sabbath  day," 
to  worship.  He  had  doubtless  been  a 
worshiper  in  that  place  Sabbath  after 
Sabbath  from  childhood,  and  as  now 
His  eyes  fell  upon  the  people  assem- 
bled, He  would  recognize  friends  and 

74 


Jn  t6e  Public  place 


neighbors,  companions  of  His  youth 
and  young  manhood.  There  was  the 
ark  of  painted  wood  that  contained  the 
sacred  Scriptures;  there  was  the 
elevated  seat  for  the  reader  or  the 
preacher.  The  leading  men  of  the  syn- 
agogue were  in  their  places;  the  con- 
gregation was  seated,  the  men  on  the 
one  side,  and  the  women,  with  their 
long  veils,  on  the  other  side,  behind  a 
lattice.  The  place  was  familiar  in  all 
its  appointments  and  persons,  and  the 
joy  of  being  once  more  in  the  old  home 
church,  which  must  have  had  much  to 
do  in  molding  His  life,  cannot  be  over- 
estimated. 

Is  it  not  ever  so  ?  Who  can  ever  for- 
get the  days  of  childhood  in  the  old 
meeting-house,  when,  sitting  side  by 
side  with  father  and  mother,  we  joined 
in  the  sacred  song,  listened  in  simple 
awe  to  the  lesson  from  God's  Word, 
and  to  the  prayer  and  sermon  of  the 
preacher?  We  shall  never  know  how 
much  of  our  deeper  religious  experi- 
ence we  owe  to  that  formative  period 


CSrfet  flPttt  aPtbotfonal  (gjEampU 

of  our  lives.  We,  too,  can  recall  the 
place  and  the  people,  the  teacher  and 
the  preacher  with  whom  we  took  our 
first  lessons  in  the  public  worship  of 
God.  That  is  one  picture  we  all  hang 
on  the  walls  of  our  memory  that  time 
will  not  fade.  What  a  delight  it  has 
been,  after  long  years  of  separation,  to 
go  back  and  look  in  once  more  upon  the 
scene!  Of  course  it  had  changed. 
Many  of  the  old  worshipers  were  gone, 
some  to  other  places,  some  to  worship 
in  the  house  not  made  with  hands ;  but 
the  same  Spirit  and  Abiding  Presence 
was  there,  and  we  have  silently  said, 
though  the  world  changeth,  "Jesus 
Christ  is  the  same  yesterday,  to-day, 
and  forever." 

On  this  particular  Sabbath  day  of 
worship  at  Nazareth,  the  Savior  was  in 
the  midst  of  His  great  work.  He  had 
been  teaching  in  the  synagogues  of 
Galilee  for  some  weeks,  and  had  met 
with  general  admiration  and  accept- 
ance. How  different  it  was  to  be  in 
Nazareth,  His  old  home !    The  services 

76 


In  t^t  ^nhlit  place 


had  already  commenced  when  He  en- 
tered, the  lesson  from  the  Law  had 
been  read,  and  the  clerk,  recognizing 
our  Lord^s  right  and,  perhaps,  His  ex- 
pressed desire  to  perform  the  office  of 
reader  in  the  second  part  of  the  service, 
during  which  a  passage  was  read  from 
one  of  the  prophets,  handed  Him  the 
roll  of  the  prophet  Isaiah.  Jesus  as- 
cended the  little  platform,  unrolled  the 
volume,  and  found  the  passage  record- 
ed in  the  sixty-first  chapter.  Strangely 
enough,  it  was  the  prophecy  concerning 
Himself,  and  with  wonderful  tender- 
ness and  grace,  and  with  no  less  au- 
thority and  power,  He  spoke  to  His  old 
townsmen  and  friends.  At  first,  they 
were  amazed  and  delighted  with  his 
gracious  words,  but  when  the  full 
meaning  of  His  divine  claims  dawned 
upon  them,  they  rose  up  in  wrath  and 
forced  Him  from  the  city,  and  would 
have  destroyed  Him.  A  strange  and 
sad  ending,  indeed,  to  a  day  of  worship 
in  the  old  home  town  of  Nazareth ! 
But  the  story  is,  nevertheless,  one  of 

77 


CJtisft  SDnt  SDebotional  dE^eampk 

the  fullest  accounts  we  have  of  our 
Lord's  public  worship.  It  helps  us  to 
fill  in  the  scanty  narrative  of  His  pres- 
ence in  synagogue  and  temple.  It  tells 
us  that  He  was  an  active  participant  in 
the  public  religious  devotion  of  His 
people.  Worship  thus  has  its  social  as 
well  as  its  personal  or  individual  side. 
It  is  not  enough  that  the  worshiper 
shall  enter  the  secret  place  to  commune 
with  Him  who  seeth  in  secret.  Clearly 
does  Jesus  tell  us  by  His  own  practice 
that  there  must  be  the  solemn  coming 
together  of  believers,  both  for  a  testi- 
mony to  the  world,  and  for  the  enrich- 
ment of  the  lives  of  His  followers. 
And,  once  more,  does  this  picture  of 
Jesus  reading  in  the  synagogue  the 
sacred  roll,  exalt  the  Scripture  to  its 
supreme  place  in  the  public  worship. 
God  speaks  here  not  so  much  of  the 
little  things  of  our  daily  life  as  of  the 
larger  things.  We  take  Him  with  us 
into  the  closet  and  tell  Him  there  all 
about  ourselves.  In  the  public  assem- 
bly, God  takes  us,  so  to  speak,  into  His 

78 


In  tfie  ^nblit  piact 


confidence  concerning  His  own  char- 
acter and  larger  purposes.  Our  own 
experience  has  taught  us  that  in  public 
worship  have  come  some  of  the  greatest 
and  most  inspiring  visions  of  life  and 
duty.  How  often  have  we  been  carried 
away  from  our  own  little  narrow  con- 
ception of  God's  infinite  love  and  pur- 
pose by  the  brighter  vision  and  tender 
voice  of  the  preacher,  or  lifted  as  upon 
wings  by  his  prayer  of  faith  and  hope ! 
That  service  will  be  a  poor  one,  indeed, 
that  fails  to  draw  the  soul  heavenward 
in  its  longings  and  affections.  The  joy 
of  fellowship  is  no  place  keener  or 
more  delightful  than  in  the  sanc- 
tuary. 

"I  was  glad  when  they  said  unto  me, 
Let  us  go  unto  the  house  of  Jehovah." 

Have  you  ever  observed  the  fact  that 
one  of  the  greatest  hardships  that  come 
with  advancing  age  is  the  inability  to 
attend  regularly  the  public  services  of 
the  church?  This  is  often  the  deepest 
regret  expressed  by  aged  and  infirm 

79 


€iti0t  iDnt  SDttotional  CsampU 

people.  They  miss  these  occasions  of 
sweet  fellowship  in  song  and  praise, 
and  there  is  nothing  else  that  will  ex- 
actly take  their  place.  There  is  an  in- 
spiration that  comes  with  numbers. 
The  song  of  a  thousand  voices  and 
hearts  all  blended  in  one  harmony  al- 
most divine  will  not  soon  be  forgotten, 
and  it  makes  us  feel  that  we  have  a 
common  Father  and  a  common  destiny. 
Says  a  great  theological  teacher,  "It  is 
through  the  ^unending  song'  of  a  wor- 
shiping church  that  the  faith  of  Christ 
has  been  conserved  upon  the  earth, 
rather  than  through  the  involved  con- 
fessional creations  that  lie  dormant  in 
theological  literature.  Worship  has 
been  the  great  conservative  of  faith." 

I  had  a  dear,  good  friend.  I  think 
he  is  still  my  friend,  though  I  cannot 
see  him  now  with  these  natural  eyes. 
One  day  he  put  his  hand  on  my  shoul- 
der and  drawing  me  to  one  side,  with  a 
tenderness  in  his  voice  and  words,  said, 
"We  have  chosen  you  to  take  up  this 
responsibility  and  to  keep  these  affairs 

80 


Jn  tit  Public  Place 


in  order  and  under  your  control."  His 
confidence  inspired  me,  though  it  filled 
my  eyes  with  tears.  During  the  years 
that  followed,  I  learned  to  know  him 
well,  in  his  home,  in  business  relations, 
in  his  hopes  and  fears  concerning  the 
church  in  general,  and  in  particular 
concerning  one  of  its  important  inter- 
ests. Very  many  good  things  were  said 
of  him  by  those  who  took  part  at  his  fu- 
neral services,  but  that  which  most 
deeply  impressed  me  was  the  statement 
made  by  one  who  had  known  him  all 
his  life.  I  cannot  recall  his  exact  lan- 
guage, but  in  substance  it  was  this: 
Our  friend  was  so  strongly  attached  to 
his  local  church  and  public  worship 
that  the  door  of  this  church  was  never 
opened  that  he  did  not  consider  it  an 
invitation  to  him  to  enter  and  take  part 
in  the  service,  of  whatever  character. 
He  was  a  sweet-spirited  and  devout 
man,  and  no  doubt  would  tell  us  that 
he  owed  much  to  the  worship  of  God  in 
His  own  house. 


81 


€W^t  SDnt  SDebotlonal  (£tampU 

'How  amiable  are  thy  tabernacles, 

O  Jehovah  of  hosts ! 

My  soul  longeth,  yea,  even  fainteth  for  the  courts 

of  Jehovah ; 
My  heart  and  my  flesh  cry  out  unto  the  living 

God." 


82 


Take  heed  that  ye  do  not  your  riffhteousness 
before  men,  to  6e  seen  of  them. 


Feom  all  vain  pomps  and  shows, 

From  the  pride  that  overflows, 

And  the  false  conceits  of  men ; 

From  all  the  narrow  rules 

And  subt'leties  of  schools, 

And  the  craft  of  tongue  and  pen; 

Bewildered  in  its  search, 

Bewildered  with  the  cry: 

Lo,  here !  lo,  there,  the  church ! 

Poor,  sad  humanity, 

Through  all  the  dust  and  heat 

Turns  back  with  bleeding  feet, 

By  the  weary  road  it  came. 

Unto  the  simple  thought 

By  the  great  Master  taught, 

And  that  remaineth  still: 

Not  he  that  repeateth  the  name, 

But  he  that  doeth  the  will ! 

— Henry  W.  Longfclloiv. 


%it  IBUUgiott  ot  SDh0tntitjg 


VIII 
Cfie  Keligfon  of  fl)6«cutftp 

Jesus  was  very  emphatic  in  His 
teaching  against  all  forms  of  religious 
display.  Righteousness  is  so  much  a 
personal  matter,  so  entirely  a  relation 
between  the  soul  and  God,  that  there  is 
danger  in  its  publicity.  It  is  true  that 
He  says  we  are  to  let  our  light  shine 
before  men,  but  the  motive  must  be  that 
they  may  see  our  good  works,  and  glo- 
rify our  Father  who  is  in  heaven.  That 
is  very  different  from  letting  our  light 
shine  in  order  that  we  may  glorify  our- 
selves. We  need  encouragement  to  do 
the  former;  we  need  as  much  the  can- 
tion  not  to  do  the  latter. 

This  may  be  called  Christ's  law  of 
unostentation.  In  our  religious  life 
we  are  constantly  in  the  gaze  of  others, 
and  no  temptation  will  be  greater  than 
to  seem  to  be  what  we  are  not.    A  sort 

85 


€Wfit  SDut  SDebotional  dE^ampIt 

of  stage-life  is  that  of  many  Christians, 
— mere  acting,  or  parading  before  oth- 
ers their  good  qualities  and  deeds.  By 
many  it  is  done  so  easily  and  uncon- 
sciously, that  the  warning  is  all  the 
more  needful.  The  very  fact  that  we 
are  watched  by  others,  is  the  invitation 
to  substitute  outward  behavior  for  in- 
ward goodness.  Jesus  says,  "Take 
heed.^' 

:  This  law  against  religious  display 
has  a  threefold  application,  all  found 
in ;  the  sixth  chapter  of  St.  Matthew. 
The  first  is  to  almsgiving:  "When 
therefore  thou  doest  alms,  sound  not  a 
trumpet  before  thee,  as  the  hypocrites 
do  in  the  synagogues  and  in  the  streets, 
that  they  may  have  glory  of  men."  The 
act  of  giving  alms  is  assumed  as  one  of 
the  true  Christian  graces.  Nothing  in 
life  is  more  beautiful  than  the  blossom- 
ing, of  the  heart  in  cheerful  and  gener- 
ous giving.  "It  is  more  blessed  to  give 
than  to  receive."  And  just  because  it  is 
a  jewel  of  so  rare  value,  because  it  is  a 
quality  of  life  that  wins  applause,  the 

86 


%it  WitUqion  ot  SDh^tutitj^ 

danger  is  that  we  may  make  our  char- 
ity and  kindness  a  mere  display.  Pub- 
lic giving  is  often  necessary  as  an  in- 
centive to  others,  and,  sometimes,  as  a 
protection  to  ourselves.  It  is  not  the 
mere  fact  of  publicity  that  is  con- 
demned, but  the  motive  of  publicity, 
the  spirit  that  would  display  before  the 
world  this  form  of  our  religious  devo- 
tion. 

How  much  in  these  days  of  seeking 
applause  we  need  this  caution  against 
a  form  of  self-righteousness !  Some  are 
charitable  only  because  others  are, — 
they  must  keep  up  at  least  the  appear- 
ance of  giving,  even  though  they  have 
no  heart  in  it.  Some  measure  their 
giving  by  that  of  others,  and  will  not 
give  until  they  know  what  others  have 
given.  Some  give  grudgingly,  or  only 
as  their  whims  and  fancies  may  deter- 
mine. Still  others  do  their  alms  where 
they  know  their  names  will  be  pub- 
lished broadcast.  All  of  these  in  some 
way  display  their  righteousness,  love 
man's  praise  rather  than  God%  and 

87 


C{|ti0t  SDixt  2DebottonaI  (Jttamplt 

they  have  already  received  their  re- 
ward. 

This  display  is  just  what  Jesus  con- 
demns. As  God  is  to  be  the  rewarder, 
and  will  recompense  what  is  done  in  se- 
cret, we  need  not  hesitate  to  follow  the 
direction  of  not  letting  the  left  hand 
know  what  the  right  hand  doeth.  Op- 
portunities for  such  almsgiving  abound 
on  every  hand.  This  is  an  age  of  a  new 
philanthropy.  Never  has  the  church 
poured  out  its  wealth  to  make  men  bet- 
ter and  to  improve  the  conditions  of 
the  poor,  the  crippled,  the  blind,  the 
unfortunate  of  all  classes,  more  than  it 
is  doing  to-day.  The  movement  has 
taken  hold  of  the  masses  of  the  people, 
and  by  public  enactment  and  private 
enterprise  alike  the  gospel  of  giving  is 
preached  and  practiced  as  never  before. 
And  yet  it  is  true  that  many  of  God's 
treasuries  are  locked  and  sealed 
against  the  crying  needs  of  the  world. 
If  our  religious  life  means  anything  at 
all,  it  means  that  we  are  to  serve  Christ 


88 


by  serving  others  in  prompt,  cheerful, 
generous,  untrumpeted  giving. 

The  second  application  of  the  law 
against  religious  display  is  to  prayer. 
It  will  not  be  necessary  here  to  dwell 
upon  prayer  as  a  means  of  devotion 
further  than  to  say  that  it  must  not 
yield  to  a  desire  for  show.  Just  as 
almsgiving  is  the  souPs  natural  out- 
going toward  man,  prayer  is  its  nat- 
ural outgoing  toward  God.  The  relig- 
ion of  the  ancient  Jew  had  a  great  deal 
of  rite  and  ceremony,  a  worship  that 
appealed  strongly  to  the  eye,  and  it 
was,  therefore,  easy  to  slip  into  formal- 
ism and  ostentation.  It  would  soon 
come  to  be  insincere,  and  men  would 
parade  their  piety  and  devotion  in  pub- 
lic places,  as  in  the  synagogues  and  in 
the  streets.  Prayer  would  be  almost 
the  first  element  of  devotion  to  yield  to 
this  desire  for  show. 

With  us  the  danger  is  not  so  great, 
and  yet  is  not  the  caution  needed? 
How  often  is  prayer  a  mere  parading 
before  an  audience  of  our  own  most  se- 

89 


CStfet  SDnt  S>t\>0tional  (Example 

cret  and  personal  experiences!  There 
is  a  place  for  such  plain  speaking  to 
God,  but  it  is  behind  the  closed  door. 
The  holj  tones  and  endearing  names 
used  by  some  in  addressing  God  are 
either  the  result  of  careless  habit  or  an 
assumed  reverence.  At  the  best  they 
are  not  in  good  taste,  and  should  be 
carefully  avoided.  Every  insincere 
word,  every  vain  repetition,  every  sub- 
stitute of  quantity  for  quality,  is  of  the 
nature  of  parade  in  prayer,  to  be  seen 
or  heard  of  men.  Study  the  prayer 
which  Jesus  has  given  us,  and  you  will 
see  how  simple,  direct,  and  comprehen- 
sive it  is.  "After  this  manner  there- 
fore pray  ye." 

The  third  application  of  the  law  is 
to  fasting.  The  Savior  thinks  of  fast- 
ing in  connection  with  almsgiving  and 
prayer,  for  they  are  introduced  consec- 
utively and  by  the  same  formula, 
"When  thou  doest  alms,"  "When  ye 
pray,"  "When  ye  fast."  The  first  two 
we  recognize  as  valuable  in  their  influ- 
ence on  devotional  life  to-day ;  the  last 

90 


%^t  Keligion  ot  SDhfitutit^ 

we  hesitate  to  think  as  necessary,  even 
in  the  face  of  the  fact  that  Christ  fre- 
quently fasted  and  commended  its 
practice.  He  assumes,  at  least,  that  it 
is  a  form  of  devotion,  and  that  there  is 
a  right  and  a  wrong  method  of  using  it. 
We  need  not  here  discuss  the  ques- 
tion to  what  extent  or  how  abstinence 
from  food  becomes  a  means  of  spiritual 
culture.  It  is  perfectly  clear,  however, 
that  in  respect  to  food,  the  Christian 
must  be  under  the  guidance  of  law. 
The  principle  of  fasting  is  expressed 
by  Paul :  "I  keep  under  my  body,  and 
bring  it  into  subjection."  He  was  not 
a  slave  to  fleshly  lusts,  and  if  there  was 
any  conflict  between  the  higher  and  the 
lower,  Paul  was  determined  that  the 
spiritual  should  be  kept  on  top.  To  ac- 
complish this  would  require  at  times 
vigorous  treatment  and  even  denial  of 
appetite  and  sensual  indulgence.  Sins 
against  the  body  will  not  help  the  soul 
in  its  upward  flight.  Moderation  and 
even  abstinence  may  be  necessary  to 
clear  the  brain  and  prepare  the  mind 

91 


CSrfet  SDnt  aPtbottonal  (ggampte 

for  thinking  about  God.  All  of  this  is 
assumed  in  this  reference  to  fasting, 
but  the  principle  emphasized  is  that  it 
must  be  done  without  display.  Jesus 
has  no  place  for  the  sad  countenance 
and  the  disfigured  face  as  the  result  of 
spiritual  devotion.  These  are  not  to 
appear  to  men  as  the  evidence  of  such 
spiritual  activity.  Even  our  fasting  is 
not  to  appear  unto  men,  but  unto  the 
Father  who  is  in  secret. 

What  we  need  to  do  many  times  in 
our  Christian  lives  is  to  examine  close- 
ly the  underlying  motive.  Is  it  not 
true  that  we  are  to  a  large  extent  under 
the  control  of  custom,  and  that  for  this 
reason  our  devotion  becomes  insincere 
and  mechanical?  Tested  by  this  law 
against  religious  display,  how  much  of 
our  conduct  is  little  more  than  acting 
to  be  seen  of  men!  It  is  against  this 
that  the  Savior  warns  us,  and  by  His 
gracious  and  tender  "Take  heed,"  He 
urges  us  to  close  self-examination. 
May  we  not  remember  that  the  religion 
of  obscurity  is  the  religion  of  the  heart, 

92 


%it  Keliffion  of  SDb^tutitj^ 

and  that  we  are  not  to  make  a  show  of 
it  to  the  world.  It  is  only  the  unseen 
devotion  that  the  Father  has  promised 
to  recompense. 


03 


Your  heavenly  Father  knoweth  that  ye  have  need 
of  all  these  things. 


Since  thy  Father's  arm  sustains  thee, 

Peaceful  be; 
When  a  chastening  hand  restrains  thee, 

It   is   He. 
Know  His  love  in  full  completeness 
Fills  the  measure  of  thy  weakness ; 
If  He  wound  thy  spirit  sore, 

Trust  Him  more. 

Without   murmur,    uncomplaining, 

In  His  hand 
Leave  whatever  things  thou  canst  not 

Understand. 
Though  the  world  thy  folly  spurneth, 
From  thy  faith  in  pity  turneth. 
Peace  thy  inmost  soul  shall  fill, 

Lying  still. 

To  His  own  thy  Father  giveth 

Daily  strength ; 
To  each  troubled  soul  that  liveth, 

Peace  at  length. 
Weakest  lambs  have  largest  share 
Of  this  tender  Shepherd's  care ; 
Ask  Him  not,  then,  "When?"  or. "How?" 

Only  bow. 

— Charles  R.  Hagenhach. 


3t  Bot  SimioM 


IX 
IBt  lI3ot  an^fouj 

The  Savior  does  not  mean  that  we 
are  to  have  no  interest  in  or  concern  for 
the  future.  His  own  life  would  be  a 
complete  answer  to  such  an  argument. 
Moreover,  He  was  constantly  urging 
His  disciples  to  look  into  the  future, 
and  so  far  as  possible  anticipate  its 
emergencies  and  necessities.  The  man 
who  proposes  to  build  a  tower  must 
first  sit  down  and  count  its  cost  for  fear 
he  may  not  be  able  to  finish  it,  and  thus 
bring  shame  and  disgrace  upon  himself 
and  friends.  When  the  disciples  were 
about  to  go  out  to  teach  the  multitude, 
He  graciously  warned  them  what  they 
might  expect — they  would  be  as  sheep 
among  ravening  wolves,  and  would  suf- 
fer persecution,  and  at  last  lay  down 
their  lives.    Could  any  sadder  picture 

7  97 


€iti0t  SDnt  SDebotional  (Btamplt 

be  drawn,  and  could  any  future  be 
more  disheartening? 

What  Jesus  did  mean  was  to  give  us 
a  right  attitude  toward  the  future,  and 
that  attitude  entered  into  His  own 
deepest  and  religious  life.  In  a  word, 
dark  and  gloomy  as  was  the  future  to 
Him,  and  it  was  known  to  Him  as  it 
cannot  be  to  us,  He  did  not  allow  it  to 
destroy  the  peace  and  usefulness  of  His 
life.  It  is  easy  for  us  to  imagine  how 
the  future  could  have  pressed  upon 
Him  with  almost  crushing  weight, 
when  He  thought  of  how  hate  and  mal- 
ice and  death  would  at  last  lay  Him 
low.  His  steadiness  and  poise  of  con- 
duct in  the  face  of  a  most  uninviting 
future  are  to  us  a  marvel  of  confidence 
and  inherent  strength. 

But  what  are  we  going  to  do  with  the 
ills  and  cares  of  our  poor  lives?  No 
life  is  free  from  them,  and  to  escape 
their  depressing  influence  seems  almost 
impossible.  The  threads  become  so 
hopelessly  entangled  at  times  that  un- 
less we  set  ourselves  diligently  to  the 


15t  i!5ot  SlmioM 


task,  even  to  the  extent  of  giving 
anxious  thought,  confusion  will  lead  to 
greater  confusion  and  even  despair. 
Who  will  disengage  them  if  we  do  not? 
Who  will  take  thought  of  our  troubles 
unless  we  do,  whom  they  directly  con- 
cern? 

Christ's  example  is  happily  for  us 
a  complete  answer.  He  went  on  His 
way,  not  only  from  every  great  crisis, 
but  from  the  thousand  petty  annoy- 
ances that  must  have  consumed  much 
of  His  time  and  strength.  And  in  this 
we  must  follow  him.  No  Christian  has 
any  right  to  allow  the  cares  and  con- 
flicts of  life  to  fret  or  incapacitate  him 
for  his  work.  It  is  true  that  they  will 
come,  but  it  is  not  true  that  we  must 
surrender  ourselves  to  their  power.  It 
was  Luther  who  said  that  we  cannot 
prevent  the  birds  from  flying  over  our 
heads,  but  we  do  not  need  to  allow 
them  to  stop  and  build  their  nests  in 
our  hair.  To  open  the  doors  and  win- 
dows of  the  soul,  and  to  let  in  the  dis- 
tracting thoughts  and  anxieties  of  the 

99 


CStfet  flDur  SDebotional  (£umpU 

present  and  future  until  they  have  es- 
tablished themselves  in  our  mental  and 
spiritual  natures  is  sinful  because  it  is 
unbelief.  It  is  simply  saying  that  we 
doubt  God^s  ability  and  willingness  to 
help  us,  or  indeed,  whether  His  protec- 
tion is  over  us  at  all. 

"Delight  thyself  also  in  Jehovah; 
And  he  will  give  thee  the  desires  of  thy  heart. 

"Commit  thy  way  unto  Jehovah ; 
Trust  also  in  him,  and  he  will  bring  it  to  pass." 

These  are  the  formulae  for  care,  the 
argument  against  worry.  Delight  in 
the  Lord,  and  an  absolute  committing 
of  our  way  to  Him  will  drive  anxious 
thought  from  every  troubled  life.  As 
literally  as  we  take  a  broken  chair  to 
the  carpenter  to  be  mended,  as  fully  as 
we  trust  our  physical  ailments  to  the 
treatment  of  a  skilled  physician,  so  lit- 
erally and  fully  are  we  to  take  our 
cares  to  Him,  casting  all  our  anxiety 
upon  Him,  because  He  careth  for  us. 
■And  when  we  take  them  to  Him,  let  us 
not  pick  them  up  again,  but  leave  them 

100 


©e  jRot  SLmiou^ 


there,  and  expect  Him  to  use  His  own 
way  and  time  in  setting  them  in  order. 
There  is  no  place  where  so  many  of 
us  fail  as  just  here.  We  tell  God  all 
about  our  sorrows  and  disappoint- 
ments, our  shattered  hopes  and  cher- 
ished plans,  our  misgivings  and  fore- 
bodings, and  then  as  if  He  did  not  hear 
or  could  not  help,  we  load  them  up 
again,  if  indeed  we  have  ever  entirely 
cast  them  off,  and  go  on  in  the  same 
fretful  and  distrustful  way.  The  re- 
sult is  that  we  are  completely  in  the 
power  of  our  sadder  moods,  unfitted  for 
the  best  service,  and  find  no  delight 
in  ourselves  or  others.  Let  us  take 
Jesus  at  His  word  when  He  says, 
*^Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor  and 
are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you 
rest.''  Much  of  our  life  seems  like 
mountain-climbing,  but  the  purer  air 
and  larger  vision  are  compensations  we 
may  all  have.  If  we  seem  to  make  no 
progress,  but  go  round  and  round  with 
hindrances  of  all  kinds  in  our  way, 
there  must  be  some  reason  why  it  is  so, 

101 


€iti^t  iSDat  SDtbDtional  (Example 

and  we  should  not  worry  about  it.  The 
summit  of  our  faith  is  reached  when  we 
need  not  ask  the  reason  why. 

It  is  old  but  good  advice  to  take  short 
views  of  life,  hope  for  the  best,  and  trust 
in  God.  One  of  the  happiest  features 
of  our  earthly  pilgrimage  is  that  we  are 
not  to  look  far  into  the  future.  "Be 
not  therefore  anxious  for  the  morrow: 
for  the  morrow  will  be  anxious  for  it- 
self." God  never  hurries.  The  conclu- 
sions in  His  logic  are  often  drawn  from 
premises  of  long  standing.  His  plan 
for  your  life  and  mine  must  not  be 
marred  by  our  impatience  and  fretful- 
ness.  Earnest  devotion  to  the  unfold- 
ing plans  of  God,  as  day  by  day  they 
are  made  known  to  us  by  His  guidance, 
w^ill  keep  us  sweet  in  heart  as  well  as 
pure  in  heart.  When  we  do  our  best, 
we  may  leave  the  results  with  Him. 

And  this  suggests  the  one  most  im- 
portant thing  in  all  this  caretaking 
and  worry:  we  must  do  our  duty  as 
God  Himself  indicates  it  to  us.  May 
there  be  a  conflict  in  the  things  w^e 

102 


Tdt  il3ot  Simion0 


ought  to  do?  Yes,  if  we  are  making 
our  own  lifers  plan  and  are  determined 
to  walk  therein.  No,  if  we  are  permit- 
ting God  to  shape  our  lives,  and  we  are 
anxious  to  follow  His  directions.  Do 
the  next  thing,  and  that  is  duty.  In 
that  sense  a  conflict  can  hardly  be.  We 
must  wait  patiently  for  Him,  but  He 
will  open  up  the  way,  and  when  He 
does,  we  must  not  hesitate  in  our  re- 
sponse. The  parent  is  honored  by  a 
trustful  and  obedient  child,  and  God  is 
our  Father,  and  we  are  his  children. 
He  knows  what  is  best,  and  He  will 
withhold  no  good  thing  that  we  need, 


103 


We  must  work  the  works  of  Him  that  sent  me, 
while  it  is  day. 


If  some  great  angel  spake  to  me  to-night 

In  awful  language  of  the  unknown  land. 
Bidding  me  to  choose  from  treasure  infinite. 

From  goodly  gifts  and  glories  in  his  hand, 
The  thing  I  coveted,  What  would  I  take? 

Fame's  wreath  of   bays?   the  fickle  world's   es- 
teem? 
Nay;  greenest  bays  may  wave  on  brows  that  ache. 

And  world's  applauding  passeth  as  a  dream. 
Should  I  choose  love  to  fill  mine  empty  heart 

With  soft,  strong  sweetness  as  in  days  of  old? 
Nay;  for  love's  rapture  has  an  after-smart, 

And  on  love's  rose  the  thorns  are  manifold. 
Should  I  choose  life  with  long  succeeding  years? 
Nay ;  earth's  long  life  is  longer  time  for  tears. 

I  would  choose  work,  and  never-failing  power 

To  work  without  weak  hindrance  by  the  way, 
Without  recurrence   of   the   weary   hour 

When  tired,  tyrant  Nature  hold  its  sway 
Over  the  busy  brain  and  toiling  hand. 

Ah !  if  an  angel  came  to  me  to-night. 
Speaking  in  language  of  the  unknown  land. 

So  would  I  choose  from  treasure  infinite. 
But  well  I  know  the  blessed  gift  I  crave, 

The  tireless  strength  for  never-ending  task, 
Is  not  for  this  life.     But  beyond  the  grave 

It  may  be  I  shall  find  the  thing  I  ask; 
For  I  believe  there  is  a  better  land, 
W^here  will  and  work  and  strength  go  hand  in  hand. 

— JJnhnoicn. 


^V  iFat5ec*0  3u&int^0 


X 

90?  JTatfier's  TBusfnegg 

Luke  gives  us  in  his  second  chapter 
the  only  picture  we  have  of  the  boyhood 
of  Jesus.  How  eager  we  are  to  know 
Something  about  the  early  years  of  a 
great  man,  and  it  seems  strange  that  so 
little  was  recorded  of  the  boy  Jesus. 
That  one  picture,  however,  is  not  only 
beautiful  in  itself,  but  it  speaks  in 
clearest  terms  of  the  glory  of  His  pub- 
lic career.  In  the  midst  of  the  Jewish 
doctors,  modest  and  unassuming,  but 
surprising  them  at  His  understanding 
and  answers,  He  declared  with  a  cer- 
tainty and  authority  far  beyond  His 
years,  ^^I  must  be  about  my  Father's 
business,"  or,  as  in  the  Greek,  "in  the 
things  of  my  Father."  These  words  are 
prophetic  of  a  busy  life,  and  help  us  to 
get  some  little  glimpse  of  that  period 
vre  know  so  little  about. 

107 


€W0t  SDnt  fl)ebotfonal  egampte 

Those  who  study  closely  the  life  of 
our  Lord  will  be  impressed  at  once  with 
His  wonderful  activity  among  men. 
In  the  three  short  years  of  His  public 
ministry,  He  came  into  close  and  per- 
sonal contact  with  all  classes  of  people, 
and  in  almost  every  imaginable  rela- 
tion. His  life  is  in  this  respect  in  most 
striking  contrast  with  that  of  His  em- 
inent forerunner.  Of  John,  the  dwell- 
ing-place and  preaching-place  was  the 
wilderness,  and  into  it  the  people 
thronged  to  hear  the  great  preacher. 
His  food  and  dress  were  those  of  one 
who  had  withdrawn  from  the  familiar 
haunts  of  men,  and  though  this  strong 
but  strange  character  was  the  prepar- 
ing voice  of  the  Messiah,  he  did  his 
work  more  as  a  recluse  than  as  a  busy 
man  among  men. 

The  monastic  conception  of  the  relig- 
ious life  at  one  time  largely  prevailed, 
and  is  not  yet  altogether  a  thing  of  the 
past.  There  are  some  who  still  think 
t'lat  the  best  way  and  the  only  way  to 
rise  into  a  high  plane  of  religious  ex- 

108 


9??  JFat8tr'0  1Bu0iiu00 


perience  is  to  live  behind  stone  walls  in 
monastic  cells,  or  shut  up  in  the  huts 
and  caves  of  the  desert.  Asceticism 
has  not  only  drawn  its  thousands  into 
lonely  places,  but  has  caused  its  devo- 
tees to  punish  and  torture  themselves 
in  ways  most  cruel  and  revolting,  all 
in  the  name  of  pure  religious  devotion. 
The  same  tendency  is  seen  in  modern 
life  when  persons  betake  themselves  to 
monastery  or  nunnery,  and  take  the 
strictest  vows  of  poverty,  chastity,  and 
seclusion.  Not  a  few  good  Christian 
people  give  expression  to  the  same  idea 
when  they  invest  religion  with  a 
gloomy  spirit,  as  if  it  were  sinful  to 
enjoy  the  good  and  beautiful  things  we 
find  around  us. 

The  popular  impression  is  that 
Christ  was  "a  man  of  sorrows  and  ac- 
quainted with  grief."  We  have  even 
gone  so  far  as  to  say  that  He  never 
smiled,  and  that  on  His  face  no  ripple 
of  gladness  ever  played.  But  on  the 
other  hand,  we  do  not  read  anywhere 
that  a  single  misanthropic  word  ever 

109 


€W^t  SDnt  SDebotional  (Ejcample 

fell  from  His  lips,  or  that  He  carried 
gloom  and  sadness  wherever  He  went. 
Children  did  not  despise  Him,  and  they 
would  have  been  among  the  first  to  de- 
tect a  frown.  People  sought  Him 
gladly,  not  because  His  presence  took 
from  them  the  joy  and  peace  of  life. 
The  Christ  of  the  Gospels  is  not  a  som- 
ber Christ,  and  if  we  understand  Him 
aright,  our  religion  will  not  be  a  som- 
ber religion.  If  His  life  was  hard  and 
full  of  grief,  it  did  not  destroy  the  glad- 
ness of  His  heart ;  and  we  do  ourselves 
and  our  religion  great  injustice  when 
our  piety  is  so  cold  and  joyless  that  w^e 
see  nothing  of  the  innocent  gladness 
and  pleasure  of  earth. 

Neither  was  Christ  ascetic  in  the 
place  or  character  of  His  work.  He 
was  the  busiest  of  men,  and  His  work 
was  always  done  in  the  open,  before  the 
eyes  of  all.  The  home  witnessed  many 
of  His  miracles  and  was  many  times 
graced  by  His  presence.  It  was  His  cus- 
tom to  take  part  in  the  public  worship 
of  the  synagogue  and  temple,  rather 

110 


9??  Jfat^et'0  3Mimfi^ 


than  be  the  solitary  worshiper  of  the 
wilderness.  He  was  the  Christ  of  daily 
toil,  busy  with  His  hands  in  the  car- 
penter's shop  at  Nazareth.  He  enjoyed 
a  feast  among  His  friends,  as  we  see  in 
that  one  made  for  Him  by  Matthew. 
He  attended  a  wedding  and  performed 
a  very  important  service.  He  was  the 
social  guest  of  the  Pharisees  a  number 
of  times,  and,  only  a  few  days  before 
His  crucifixion.  He  attended  a  feast  in 
the  home  of  Mary  and  Martha  at  Beth- 
any. These  references  are  abundant 
evidence  that  Jesus  did  not  separate 
Himself  from  the  society  and  the  fel- 
lowship of  the  world. 

And  what  a  busy  life  His  was!  He 
had  a  definite  thing  to  do,  "My  Father's 
business,"  and  a  time  in  which  to  do 
it,  "while  it  is  day."  The  example  of 
His  daily  toil  is  the  best  proof  that  a 
consecrated  life  is  possible  in  the  clos- 
est association  with  men.  This  was  a 
new  phase  in  the  history  of  devotion 
that  the  Master  was  teaching.  Idleness 
and  indifference  to  responsibility  had 
111 


C!)tt0t  SDnt  S>tt>otional  CEsampU 

been  too  long  the  rule.  Reliance  upon 
form  and  ceremony  had  begotten  a 
spiritless  and  seclusive  type  of  relig- 
ious life,  and  the  world  could  never  be 
saved  by  such  indifference  to  the  needs 
of  the  people.  The  best  way  to  learn 
what  the  world  most  needed  was  to 
mingle  freely  with  it,  and  this  imposed 
the  hard  task  of  sacrifice  and  self-for- 
getfulness.  His  day  of  toil  was  not 
long,  but  none  has  been  more  intense 
or  earnest. 

We,  too,  must  be  about  our  Father^s 
business.  There  should  be  no  place  in 
our  lives  for  idleness,  "the  night  Com- 
eth, when  no  man  can  work."  Much  of 
the  doubt  among  Christian  people  to- 
day is  caused  by  their  inactivity,  and 
by  magnifying  their  own  cares.  If  the 
example  of  Jesus  teaches  anything,  it 
is  that  we  are  to  live  in  this  world  with 
a  definite  purpose,  and  with  the  concep- 
tion of  our  divinely  appointed  tasks. 
The  works  of  God  should  be  made  man- 
ifest in  us.  I  have  been  struck  with 
the  pronoun  "we"  of  the  fourth  verse 

112 


^V  JFatJiet'^  75ix0im00 


of  the  ninth  chapter  of  John^s  Gospel, 
found  in  the  American  Revision.  How 
completely  Jesus  identified  the  work 
and  mission  of  His  disciples  with  His 
own !  We  must  work  the  works  of  Him 
that  sent  me.  Blessed  toil  is  that 
which  is  heaven-sent,  and  in  which  Je- 
sus is  our  companion. 

Is  it  possible  to  engage  in  worldly 
affairs,  and  at  the  same  time  to  culti- 
vate the  devotional  life?  Can  the  mer- 
chant sell  his  goods,  the  physician  at- 
tend his  patients,  the  farmer  follow  his 
plow,  the  good  housewife  serve  her  fam- 
ily, and  at  the  same  time  "be  about  the 
Father's  business"?  These  very  pur- 
suits and  occupations  may  be  the  things 
the  Father  would  have  us  do,  and  He 
would  have  us  do  them  so  well  that  He 
will  be  honored  in  the  doing.  He  does 
not  want  us  all  to  forsake  our  occu- 
pations in  life  and  become  ministers  or 
missionaries ;  but  He  has  given  us  tal- 
ents that  may  be  used  for  Him  in  the 
places  in  which  he  has  put  us.  We 
have  no  right  to  hide  them,  or  to  refuse 

8  113 


C6ri0t  SDnt  SD^botional  dimmplt 

to  use  them.  Life's  truest  discipline, 
its  purest  joy,  its  greatest  reward,  will 
consist  in  our  devotion  to  our  Father's 
business,  which  for  many  of  us  will  be 
our  personal  influence  and  power  over 
those  with  whom  we  daily  mingle. 


114 


In  my  Father's  house  are  many  mansions ; 
I  go  to  prepare  a  place  for  you. 


Where  is  home? 
Is  it  where  stately  mansions  rise 
With  dazzling  splendor  towards  the  skies, 
The  poor  man's  dream — the  rich  man's  prize? 

Where  is  home? 

Where  is  home? 
The  humblest  place  beneath  the  skies, 
When  viewed  with  love's  devoted  eyes, 
Becomes  a  perfect  paradise! 

This   is  home ! 

Where  is  home? 
*Tis  where  the  heart's  best  treasure  is. 
For  perfect  love  is  perfect  bliss, 
Deny  me  wealth,  but  give  me  this : 

Love  is  home! 

Love  is  home! 
And  when  our  earthly  loves  are  o'er, 
And  earthly  mansions  are  no  moro, 
Forever,  on  the  other  shore, 

Heaven  is  home! 

— XJnhnown^ 


9^mv  Sl?an0(on0 


XI 
Q^anp  Mansions 

The  last  night  that  Jesus  spent  with 
the  disciples  gives  to  us  one  of  the  most 
touching  pictures  of  Gospel  history.  It 
seems  that  there  must  have  been  some 
disputing  or  quarreling  among  them, 
probably  concerning  the  places  they 
were  to  occupy  at  the  supper.  The 
question,  Who  should  be  the  greatest 
among  them?  had  been  raised  two  or 
three  times  before,  and  as  many  times 
answered  by  word  and  illustration.  It 
was  still  not  fully  understood,  and  now 
as  if  in  demonstration  of  what  He 
meant.  He  girded  himself  with  a  towel 
and  washed  the  disciples'  feet,  wiping 
them  with  the  towel  wherewith  He  was 
girded.  This  act  of  Christ  is  in 
strange  but  most  beautiful  contrast 
with  the  tender  announcement  a  little 
later  that  He  would  be  with  them  only 

117 


€W&t  SDnt  SDttiotional  (Example 

a  little  while  longer.  The  serving 
Christ,  teaching  the  lesson  of  humility 
by  His  own  act,  is  the  fitting  prelude  to 
that  farewell  discourse  recorded  in  the 
fourteenth  chapter  of  John,  in  which  is 
so  plainly  stated  the  thought  that  He 
would  soon  be  at  home  in  His  Father's 
house. 

It  is  not  irreverent  to  say  that  Jesus 
would  many  times  in  His  meditation 
anticipate  the  end,  when  at  last  He 
could  say,  "It  is  finished."  His  human- 
ity would  find  its  chiefest  support  in 
the  assurance  that  life's  struggle  would 
soon  be  over.  His  divinity  would  look 
forward  with  supreme  delight  to  the 
consummation  of  the  world-age  plan 
for  the  salvation  of  the  race,  and  His 
return  in  triumph  to  the  throne  of  the 
Father.  In  a  sense  hard  for  us  to  ap- 
preciate, Jesus  Christ  must  have  re- 
membered His  Father's  house,  and 
looked  forward  with  joy  to  the  day  of 
His  return. 

With  what  perfect  confidence  in  His 
knowledge  of  the  fact,  and  with  what 

118 


9?anp  9^an0ion^ 


tenderness  of  thought  concerning  the 
disciples'  need,  did  He  say,  <'In  my 
Father's  house  are  many  mansions;  if 
it  were  not  so,  I  would  have  told  you." 
That  was  not  the  first  time  the 
thought  had  thrilled  His  consciousness 
and  stimulated  His  effort.  Is  it  not 
more  likely  to  be  true  that  it  was  an 
ever-present  possession,  giving  Him 
support  in  every  hour  of  trial,  and  in- 
spiring Him  with  an  unfaltering  hope! 
The  age-struggle  will  soon  have  been 
accomplished,  and  back  through  the 
clouds  upon  an  unseen  chariot,  the  Son 
of  God  will  be  carried  to  the  throne 
of  glory  with  His  Father.  Inspiring 
vision!    Blessed  hope! 

How  unselfishly  He  shared  His  su- 
perior knowledge  with  the  disciples! 
He  told  them  about  the  heavenly  man- 
sions, just  as  long  before  He  had  told 
them  about  the  bitter  persecutions  that 
awaited  them.  It  comes  to  us  with  pe- 
culiar fitness  that  for  this  last  night  of 
intimate  fellowship  with  the  faithful 
eleven,  He  had  reserved  the  sweetest 

119 


€W0t  SDnt  SDebotional  (Eiampk 

revelation  of  all.  Christ  had  said  to 
them  before  many  good  things,  and  had 
in  their  presence  done  many  wonderful 
acts,  but  this  last  word,  this  last  proph- 
ecy of  the  future,  was  the  best.  If 
"heavenly  mansions"  and  a  "prepared 
place''  were  to  be  the  reward  for  service 
even  unto  death,  Jesus  desired  His 
disciples  of  every  age  to  find  help 
and  power  in  the  thought  that  we 
would  soon  be  at  home  in  our  Father's 
house. 

I  cannot  understand  how  we  can  be 
followers  of  Jesus  Christ  and  in  our  de- 
votional life  not  think  much  of  heaven. 
The  best  things  that  will  come  to  us  in 
our  religious  training  are  remembering 
Christ  and  looking  to  the  mansions  be- 
yond the  skies.  If  these  were  more  con- 
stantly with  us,  by  day  and  by  night, 
giving  vigor  and  expression  to  our 
thought  and  feeling  and  action,  how 
they  would  transform  our  lives.  We 
need  such  transforming  agencies. 
Life's  routine  will  become  hard  and 
almost  unendurable,  unless  we  have  as 

120 


9^an^  ^aMionfi 


the  light  of  our  day  the  hope  and  joy 
of  heaven  in  remembering  Jesus  Christ. 

There  are  those  who  say  that  it  is  a 
selfish  passion  that  leads  to  the 
thought  and  love  of  heaven.  If  heaven 
were  merely  a  place  of  rest,  or  the  end 
of  the  conflicts  and  disappointments  of 
earth,  earnestly  to  desire  it  might  not 
be  altogether  free  from  cowardice  and 
weakness.  But  take  it  as  it  is  described 
in  the  Scriptures, — in  all  its  relations 
to  earthly  toil  and  suffering  and  desire, 
and  as  the  place  where  our  higher  toils 
and  nobler  enjoyments  shall  begin,  and 
the  longing  for  heaven  is  the  noblest 
and  purest  passion  we  can  cherish. 
There  is  a  city  that  doth  abide,  a  house 
not  made  with  hands. 

Jesus'  departure  was  a  going  home, 
and  so  it  will  be  for  us.  The  life  be- 
yond sometimes  stretches  out  into  a 
vast  and  unknown  world,  and  the  trem- 
bling soul  shrinks  back  as  it  goes  forth 
to  meet  its  destiny.  The  grave  is  dark 
and  lonely,  and  as  we  look  into  it  with 
our  natural  eyes,  there  comes  no  light 

121 


Ciitfet  SDut  SDebotional  (Example 

to  drive  away  its  gloom.  Death  seems 
a  total  loss,  the  end  of  all  activities  and 
realizations ;  but  not  so.  "My  Father's 
house''  has  removed  the  dread,  and  the 
thought  of  the  home-going,  to  meet  the 
Father's  smile  and  to  hear  the  Father's 
words,  comes  with  welcoming  embrace 
to  tell  us  of  His  love.  It  is  this  vision 
of  a  loving  Presence,  and  of  a  home  full 
of  light  and  beauty  and  living  joy  that 
Jesus  had,  and  wishes  us  to  have,  as  we 
come  at  last  to  life's  outer  gateway. 

If  it  were  wrong  for  us  in  our  devo- 
tional life  to  cultivate  this  desire  and 
love  for  heaven.  He  would  not  have  told 
us  that  He  was  going  to  prepare  a  place 
for  us,  and  then  that  He  would  come 
again  and  receive  us  unto  Himself.  It 
was  His  thought  and  purpose  that  we 
might  be  with  Him  in  a  place  prepared. 

In  a  Christian  home  a  few  months 
ago,  the  parents  prepared  a  great  sur- 
prise for  their  little  daughter.  A  room 
was  selected  and  without  her  knowl- 
edge was  fitted  up  with  everything  that 
was  needful,  and  with  very  much  that 

122 


9^anv  9^an0ion0 


was  beautiful.  The  little  girPs  taste 
had  been  studied,  and  in  all  the  fur- 
nishings, including  even  the  devotion 
to  her  family  of  dolls,  the  father  and 
mother  sought  to  provide  the  things 
that  would  please  her.  On  Christmas 
morning,  they  led  her  to  the  open  door 
of  this  prepared  place,  and  told  her 
that  all  of  this  was  hers.  The  pure  and 
simple  joy  of  childhood  was  the  suf- 
ficient reward  of  parental  love. 

So  Jesus  is  preparing  a  place  for  as, 
and  He  has  told  us  beforehand  all 
about  it.  He  does  not  mean  to  surprise 
us,  but  desires  that  we  shall  know,  and 
that  knowing,  we  shall  rejoice.  It  is  as 
if  He  had  thoughtfully  left  the  door 
ajar  that  we  might  have  a  glimpse  of 
the  glory  that  awaits  us. 


123 


A  NEW  EDITION. 


CETTINO  AND  GIVING 

OR  THE 

Stewardship  of  Wealth. 
By  REV.  W.  M.  WEEXLEY,  D.D. 

Second  edition  with  an  introduction  by  Rev. 
J.  F.  Cowan,  D.D.,  Associate  Elditor  of  the 
Christian  EJideavor  World. 

WORDS  OF  APPRECIATION. 

It  is  reasonable  and  scriptural,  and  it  puts  the 
question  upon  Christian  ground  and  keeps  it 
there. —  Washington  Gladden. 

It  is  written  in  a  clear,  forcible  style,  and  a 
wide  circulation  of  it  will  give  light  and  quicken- 
ing to  many  a  conscience,  and  hasten  the  coming 
of  the  kingdom  of  God. — JBUhop  J.  S.  Mills. 

Elegant  red  cloth,  136  pages,  12mo,  75  cents. 

The  same  in  paper,  15  cents,  post-paid. 

Per  dozen,  prepaid,  $1.50. 

This  is  the  opportunity  for  the  pastor  and 
presiding  elder  to  distribute  these  books  at  small 
cost.     Send  in  your  orders. 


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